Asheville Reporter

In the 2022-23 school year, 514 out of 2,010 Buncombe County senior students taking the Math portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

In the 2022-23 school year, Math scores among the county districts dropped to 25.6%, a decline of 2.9% from the previous school year when 28.5% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Countywide, Asheville City Schools students stood out in Math, with almost 26.9% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (99). Meanwhile, students from Buncombe County Schools struggled the most on the Math portion, and 25.3% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 23.5% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for Math during this year.

Beyond Math, 47.2% of Buncombe County 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. On Reading, 41.1% of students were ready for college, and Science scores revealed 28.5% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Buncombe County had an average college readiness of 18.4% 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	29.3%	26.9%
Buncombe County Schools	28.3%	25.3%
Buncombe County	28.5%	25.6%