SE North Carolina News

At Brunswick County Schools, 139 out of 914 junior 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 15.2% compared to the previous school year, when 17.7% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Brunswick County Early College students stood out from schools in Brunswick County Schools in math, with almost 33.3% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (26). Meanwhile, students from West Brunswick High School struggled the most on the math portion, and only 11% 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, 34.5% of Brunswick County Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 25.8% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 21.3% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Brunswick County Schools had an average college readiness of 10.3% 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)
Brunswick County Early College	44.4%	33.3%
South Brunswick High School	17.3%	16.9%
North Brunswick High School	10.9%	13%
West Brunswick High School	16.4%	11%
Brunswick County Schools	17.7%	15.2%