Asheville Reporter

In the 2022-23 school year, 582 out of 1,931 Buncombe County junior students taking the Science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

In the 2022-23 school year, Science scores among the county districts rose to 30.1%, an increase of 1.3% from the previous school year when 28.8% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Countywide, Asheville City Schools students stood out in Science, with almost 46.1% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (146). Meanwhile, students from Buncombe County Schools struggled the most on the Science portion, and only 27% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 23.8% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for Science during this year.

Beyond Science, 51% of Buncombe County 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. On Reading, 43.2% of students were ready for college, and Math scores revealed 32.7% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Buncombe County had an average college readiness of 22.5% 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%.

District	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2021-22)	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2022-23)
Asheville City Schools	39.7%	46.1%
Buncombe County Schools	26.4%	27%
Buncombe County	28.8%	30.1%