Hickory Sun

At Hickory City Schools, 52 out of 275 senior students taking the science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Science scores among the district's schools dropped to 18.9% compared to the previous school year, when 21.3% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Hickory High School students stood out from schools in Hickory City Schools in science, with almost 20.2% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (44). Meanwhile, students from Hickory Career Arts Magnet High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 14% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 26% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for science during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides science, 30.2% of Hickory City Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 29.5% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 17.8% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Hickory City Schools had an average college readiness of 9.6% 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)
Hickory High School	23.4%	20.2%
Hickory Career Arts Magnet High School	7.1%	14%
Hickory City Schools	21.3%	18.9%