Onslow News

At Onslow County Schools, 322 out of 1,688 senior students taking the math portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Math scores among the district's schools dropped to 19.1% compared to the previous school year, when 19.9% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Onslow Early College students stood out from schools in Onslow County Schools in math, with almost 84.8% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (39). Meanwhile, students from Onslow Virtual Secondary struggled the most on the math portion, and only 10.3% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 25% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for math during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides math, 40.9% of Onslow County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 34.2% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 18.7% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Onslow County Schools had an average college readiness of 10.7% across all ACT areas.

North Carolina's education system is still grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2022-23 ACT results, college readiness among North Carolina students falls short of pre-pandemic levels, with only 17.1% meeting benchmarks.

Additionally, the state's performance is lagging behind the national average, which currently stands at 21%.

School	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2021-22)	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2022-23)
Onslow Early College	87.5%	84.8%
Swansboro High School	24.3%	27.6%
Jacksonville High School	17.6%	18.5%
Dixon High School	29.3%	16.8%
Richlands High School	12.2%	16%
Northside High School	17.2%	15.8%
White Oak High School	18.8%	13.7%
Southwest High School	12.7%	13.2%
Onslow Virtual Secondary	9.8%	10.3%
Onslow County Schools	19.9%	19.1%