UNCSA’s High School Academic Program reaccredited
The High School Academic Program at UNCSA has been reaccredited by the Cognia Global Commission.
The action was recently reported by Cognia – a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that accredits primary and secondary schools in the United States and internationally – and the Cognia Global Commission, which takes accreditation action.
“The High School Academic Program at UNCSA has a well-earned reputation for outstanding instruction that is geared toward creative students who become leaders in academics as well as in their artistic discipline,” said UNCSA Chancellor Brian Cole. “So many of our high school graduates go on to prestigious universities, including UNCSA, and ultimately notable careers both in their art form and in a variety of different areas of study.
“I congratulate Headmaster and Dean Martin Ferrell and our entire High School faculty and staff for this achievement and for their dedicated work that has made our High School one of the best in the state and beyond,” Cole continued. “They provide an unbelievable head start for young artists that can’t be found anywhere else across the country in public education.”
The High School Academic Program (HSAP) began working on its required Accreditation Engagement Review in the summer of 2022. Much of the work focused on an exhaustive self-study that involved extensive input from faculty, staff, students and parents. From its own evaluation of the self-study and Cognia’s independent review, UNCSA received the top rating of “four” from Cognia on every measure, earning an aggregate score of 334 on Cognia’s Index of Education Quality (IEQ), a holistic measure of overall performance. The average score for Cognia schools is 253.
“Whether it’s graduation rate, matriculation rate, test scores – by any metric you choose, our students are the very best,” Dean Ferrell said. “And their success is due, in part, to the quality of our faculty. The arts faculty are recognized leaders in the industry and our academic faculty are all experienced teachers who hold at least a master’s degree in their field. The combined excellence of our students and faculty makes UNCSA a truly special place to learn and work.”
The High School at UNCSA offers top-tier academics combined with conservatory arts training in Dance, Drama, Music, and Visual Arts. One of only two high schools in the UNC System, UNCSA’s High School provides a private school-level education at public school prices. For North Carolina residents it is tuition free, with most other educational costs covered by the North Carolina High School Artists Grant. In-state graduates attend any UNC System university tuition-free with the High School Tuition Grant.
The UNCSA High School also features small class sizes with an enviable 13:1 student-teacher ratio, offering individual attention, support and mentorship that helps produce superlative outcomes. The graduation rate for the class of 2023 was 98%, with a combined unweighted grade point average of 3.62 out of 4.00. Sixty of 112 members of the class of 2023 are currently attending UNC System schools.
“Our High School academics rival those of any school in the country,” Dean Ferrell noted. “Our students are supremely talented artists, of course, but they are equally talented historians, mathematicians, scientists and writers.” There were 141 AP students in the class of 2023, representing 72% of eligible students. The mean AP exam score was 3.82, compared to a global mean of 2.96. The SAT composite mean score was 1221 for entering freshmen, well above the national SAT score of 1098.
Last year, 253 students in grades 9-12 were enrolled in UNCSA’s High School, including 196 from North Carolina.
Reaccreditations are scheduled every six years, in which a progress report including any areas of improvement cited must be submitted in three years.
Cognia was formerly known as AdvancEd, which was formed with the merging of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (CASI), the North Central Association CASI and the National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE). CASI was the high school arm of SACS.
The SACS Commission on Colleges (COC) accredits UNCSA’s university programs.
July 11, 2024