Best Public Schools in State College, PA

Summary:

The State College, Pennsylvania area is home to a strong school district, the State College Area School District, which includes 12 schools - 8 elementary, 3 middle, and 1 high school. The district is highly ranked, sitting at 48 out of 610 districts in Pennsylvania and earning a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Several schools in the district stand out for their exceptional performance. State College Area High School is ranked 25th out of 686 Pennsylvania high schools and boasts a 5-star rating, with a high 4-year graduation rate of 87.5% and impressive Keystone Exam results. At the elementary level, Park Forest Elementary School and Corl Street Elementary School are both ranked in the top 150 out of 1,526 Pennsylvania elementary schools and have 5-star ratings, with exceptional PSSA performance.

The district's schools generally outperform state averages on standardized tests, with several schools achieving over 80% proficiency in various subjects. However, the charter schools in the area, such as Young Scholars of Central PA Charter School, Centre Learning Community Charter School, and Nittany Valley Charter School, tend to have lower test scores and higher free/reduced lunch rates compared to the traditional public schools in the district.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2024)				Ranking (2023)				Keystone Exams Algebra I (2024)	Keystone Exams Biology (2024)	Keystone Exams Literature (2024)	PSSA Math (2024)							PSSA Science (2024)			PSSA English Language Arts (2024)							Per Pupil Expenditures (2022)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Statewide Rank (2023)	State Percentile (2023)	Rank Change from Previous Year	Keystone Exams Algebra I 11th Grade	Keystone Exams Biology 11th Grade	Keystone Exams Literature 11th Grade	PSSA Math 3rd Grade	PSSA Math 4th Grade	PSSA Math 5th Grade	PSSA Math 6th Grade	PSSA Math 7th Grade	PSSA Math 8th Grade	PSSA Math All Grades	PSSA Science 4th Grade	PSSA Science 8th Grade	PSSA Science All Grades	PSSA English Language Arts 3rd Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 4th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 5th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 6th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 7th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 8th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Corl Street Elementary School	Public	K-5	235 Corl St	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 231-1185	226	19	11.9	19.9%	178 (78.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.5%)	23 (10.2%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (7.1%)	88.4	124^th of 1526 public elementary schools	91.9%		87.7	141^st of 1534 public elementary schools	90.8%	17				68.5	78.3	79.0				75.7	100.0		100.0	71.5	76.6	84.2				77.5	$19,677	$620	$19,057
Easterly Parkway Elementary School	Public	K-5	234 Easterly Pkwy	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	Yes	(814) 231-1170	320	32	9.9	38.4%	191 (59.7%)	31 (9.7%)	24 (7.5%)	38 (11.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (11.3%)	73	436^th of 1526 public elementary schools	71.4%		69.1	514^th of 1534 public elementary schools	66.5%	78				66.1	56.8	57.5				60.6	93.2		93.2	62.1	63.6	64.6				63.3	$21,672	$1,465	$20,207
Radio Park Elementary School	Public	K-5	800 W Cherry Ln	State College	16803	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 231-4115	432	34	12.6	19.0%	261 (60.4%)	10 (2.3%)	19 (4.4%)	102 (23.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (9.0%)	84.3	203^rd of 1526 public elementary schools	86.7%		87.3	151^st of 1534 public elementary schools	90.2%	52				73.0	73.4	63.2				69.3	86.7		86.7	77.7	75.0	76.3				76.4	$18,620	$621	$18,000
State College Area High School	Public	8-12	650 Westerly Pkwy	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 231-1111	2,347	204	11.5	22.0%	1,769 (75.4%)	74 (3.2%)	139 (5.9%)	182 (7.8%)	4 (0.2%)	5 (0.2%)	174 (7.4%)	94	25^th of 686 public high schools	96.4%		91.6	29^th of 674 public high schools	95.7%	4	76.2	80.1	86.9																		$20,149	$514	$19,635
Nittany Valley Charter School	Public, Charter	K-6	1612 Norma St	State College	16801	Centre County	Nittany Valley Charter School	Yes	No	No	No	(814) 867-3842	47	5	8.7	23.4%	44 (93.6%)	1 (2.1%)	1 (2.1%)	1 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)										24.0										68.0	$17,620	$377	$17,243
Young Scholars of Central PA Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	1530 Westerly Parkway	State College	16801	Centre County	Young Scholars of Central PA Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(814) 237-9727	344	38	9.0	46.2%	210 (61.0%)	53 (15.4%)	15 (4.4%)	18 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	46 (13.4%)	52.5	830^th of 1526 public elementary schools	45.6%		60.6	686^th of 1534 public elementary schools	55.3%	144				56.8	50.0	27.2	28.6	50.0	48.2	45.5	75.0	79.3	76.8	63.6	53.8	45.4	50.0	89.3	72.4	62.6	$18,554	$616	$17,938
Mount Nittany Middle School	Public	6-8	656 Brandywine Dr	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 466-5133	712	63	11.2	23.0%	551 (77.4%)	19 (2.7%)	30 (4.2%)	51 (7.2%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	58 (8.1%)	89.7	65^th of 891 public middle schools	92.7%		88.7	74^th of 893 public middle schools	91.7%	9							57.6	55.6	46.8	53.1		76.0	76.0				76.6	77.2	70.1	74.5	$21,999	$511	$21,488
Centre Learning Community Charter School	Public, Charter	5-8	2643 W College Ave	State College	16801	Centre County	Centre Learning Community Charter School	Yes	No	No	No	(814) 861-7980	67	7	9.7	35.8%	64 (95.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	78	160^th of 891 public middle schools	82.0%		81.4	135^th of 893 public middle schools	84.9%	25								46.4	42.2	50.8		63.2	63.2					60.7	63.2	68.3	$27,308	$494	$26,814
Park Forest Elementary School	Public	K-5	2181 School Dr	State College	16803	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	Yes	(814) 231-5010	413	30	13.7	18.9%	322 (78.0%)	9 (2.2%)	23 (5.6%)	22 (5.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	35 (8.5%)	87.4	144^th of 1526 public elementary schools	90.6%		85.6	180^th of 1534 public elementary schools	88.3%	36				74.7	75.4	74.1				74.7	97.0		97.0	71.8	70.8	83.8				75.9	$20,639	$788	$19,851
Park Forest Middle School	Public	6-8	2180 School Dr	State College	16803	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 272-8217	808	60	13.3	15.3%	629 (77.8%)	15 (1.9%)	26 (3.2%)	84 (10.4%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	49 (6.1%)	93.7	39^th of 891 public middle schools	95.6%		91.2	51^st of 893 public middle schools	94.3%	12							56.0	63.2	59.6	59.5		82.6	82.6				79.5	80.8	79.8	80.0	$21,402	$463	$20,939
Spring Creek Elementary School	Public	K-5	217 Scholl St	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	Yes	(814) 231-5026	381	27	14.1	19.9%	314 (82.4%)	6 (1.6%)	15 (3.9%)	16 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (7.9%)	88.4	126^th of 1526 public elementary schools	91.7%		85.2	186^th of 1534 public elementary schools	87.9%	60				75.5	70.2	71.6				72.3	93.0		93.0	81.6	77.2	85.1				81.5	$19,208	$961	$18,247
Mount Nittany Elementary School	Public	K-5	700 Brandywine Drive	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	Yes	(814) 272-5970	424	33	12.9	22.4%	344 (81.1%)	12 (2.8%)	13 (3.1%)	29 (6.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (6.1%)	81.6	251^st of 1526 public elementary schools	83.6%		82.2	237^th of 1534 public elementary schools	84.6%	14				73.3	68.8	55.5				66.1	93.5		93.5	74.7	72.1	68.3				71.8	$19,871	$1,112	$18,759

Cities Near State College

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Pine Grove Mills	4.95 mi	1	44^th
Port Matilda	5.93 mi	2	215^th
Bellefonte	6.94 mi	5	259^th
Pleasant Gap	7.27 mi	2	201^st
Centre Hall	8.85 mi	1	108^th

See the top PA Pennsylvania cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.