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Columbia, Mississippi - 4 schools
An equity score of 55/100 ranks Columbia School District #59 of 146 districts in Mississippi (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,995 per pupil, Columbia School District ranks #57 of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending (Mississippi districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,646
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$11,995
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Columbia School District operates 4 public schools serving 1,646 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Mississippi. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 high, 1 combined, 1 elementary, 1 middle schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Marion County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,995 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 147 Mississippi districts by per-pupil spending. See how Mississippi compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 30.3% local, 41.7% state, and 28.1% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 55/100, ranked #59 of 146 in Mississippi against a state average of 51, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 409.8:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 24.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 49.8% White, 43.3% African American, 2.5% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Columbia Primary School, with a diversity index of 57.2/100.
Its largest campus is Columbia High School, enrolling 484 students (30% of the district's total enrollment).
Columbia High School accounts for 29.4% of all Columbia School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Columbia School District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Columbia School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 100.0% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Eligibility here is a supermajority of the population — well past the 75% concentration-grant threshold that unlocks extra funding on top of the basic Title I formula. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Columbia School District student-counselor ratio is 410:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Columbia School District chronic absenteeism rate is 24.0% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Variation between sub-units within Columbia School District is typically wider than the Columbia School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Columbia School District has 4 schools, including 1 high, 1 combined, 1 elementary, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 1,646 students.
How much does Columbia School District spend per student?
Columbia School District spends $11,995 per student. The district has an equity score of 55/100, ranking #59 in Mississippi.
What is the demographic composition of Columbia School District?
Columbia School District students are 49.8% White, 43.3% African American, 2.5% Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% Asian, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Columbia School District?
Columbia School District has an equity score of 55/100, ranking #59 out of 146 districts in Mississippi.