INDIANAPOLIS — Every year, U.S. News and World Reports ranks the top public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Of the nearly 24,000 schools reviewed for this year’s rankings, 374 Indiana schools made the list, which includes traditional high schools in addition to charter schools, magnet schools and those with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Nationally, Signature School in Evansville ranked in the top three among all schools. It was the top school among those in the charter school category, according to the rankings. No other Indiana high school ranked in the top 25 nationally in any of the four categories.
What does U.S. News and World Reports consider when ranking schools? The publication said top-ranked schools have a “high rate of students who scored above expectations in math, science and reading state assessments, passed an array of college-level exams, and graduated in four years.”
In its Frequently Asked Questions section, U.S. News and World Reports specifically said college readiness (30% of the ranking), college curriculum breadth (10%), state assessment proficiency (20%), state assessment performance (20%), underserved student performance (10%) and graduation rate (10%) all factor in.
Top 20 Indiana schools
- Signature School (Evansville/Vanderburgh County; No. 3 nationally)
- The Indiana Academy (Muncie/Delaware County; No. 216 nationally)
- Herron High School (Indianapolis/Marion County; No. 318 nationally)
- West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School (West Lafayette/Tippecanoe County, No. 341 nationally)
- Zionsville Community High School (Zionsville/Boone County, No. 362 nationally)
- Carmel High School (Carmel/Hamilton County, No. 394 nationally)
- Burris Laboratory School (Muncie/Delaware County, No. 419 nationally)
- Speedway Senior High School (Speedway/Marion County, No. 544 nationally)
- Munster High School (Munster/Lake County, No. 617 nationally)
- Fishers High School (Fishers/Hamilton County, No. 719 nationally)
- Westfield High School (Westfield/Hamilton County, No. 723 nationally)
- Brownsburg High School (Brownsburg/Hendricks County, No. 889 nationally)
- Washington Township Middle/High School (Valparaiso/Porter County, No. 963 nationally)
- Bloomington High School (Bloomington/Monroe County, No. 1,011 nationally)
- Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers/Hamilton County, No. 1,073 nationally)
- Carroll High School (Fort Wayne/Allen County, No. 1,164 nationally)
- Floyd Central High School (Floyd Knobs/Floyd County, No. 1,331 nationally)
- Avon High School (Avon/Hendricks County, No. 1,408 nationally)
- Homestead Senior High School (Fort Wayne/Allen County, No. 1,481 nationally)
- Penn High School (Mishawaka/St. Joseph County, No. 1,486 nationally)
Top 10 Indianapolis area schools
- Herron High School (Indianapolis/Marion County; No. 318 nationally)
- Zionsville Community High School (Zionsville/Boone County, No. 362 nationally)
- Carmel High School (Carmel/Hamilton County, No. 394 nationally)
- Speedway Senior High School (Speedway/Marion County, No. 544 nationally)
- Fishers High School (Fishers/Hamilton County, No. 719 nationally)
- Westfield High School (Westfield/Hamilton County, No. 723 nationally)
- Brownsburg High School (Brownsburg/Hendricks County, No. 889 nationally)
- Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers/Hamilton County, No. 1,073 nationally)
- Avon High School (Avon/Hendricks County, No. 1,408 nationally)
- Plainfield High School (Plainfield/Hendricks County, No. 1,890 nationally)
You can also find the top schools broken out by Indiana’s top metro areas:
