Enrollment
2,122
Virginia · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 510366001923
Colonial Forge High — Stafford, VA
Federal NCES profile for Colonial Forge High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 67/100.
📚 AP courses 100
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 39
📋 Attendance 58
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Stafford County Public Schools · Virginia
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Free-lunch eligible
23.1%
vs 59.9% Virginia avg
-61% vs state
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Colonial Forge High reports 2,122 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 23.1% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 61% below the Virginia average and 55% below the national baseline. The school offers 27 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 303 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 16.8% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Stafford County Public Schools spends $13,111 per pupil district-wide, below the Virginia average of $16,211 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 36.8% from local sources (property taxes), 52.1% from the state, and 11.1% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 67/100 (B-), calculated from 4 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Colonial Forge High compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Virginia state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Virginia | Virginia avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free-lunch eligible | 23.1% | ▼ 61% | 59.9% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 2,122 | top 98% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
23.1%
free-lunch eligible
— 61% below the Virginia average of 59.9%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Engagement
16.8%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Between 10–20% — above the pre-pandemic baseline of ~15% nationally but within the current U.S. range.
Funding equity
$13,111
per pupil, district-wide
— below Virginia avg of $16,211
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors7.0 FTE
Per 303 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
65
in-school suspensions + 84 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 3.1 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 7.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 6 expulsions.
Overview
Enrollment 2,122 Top 98% in Virginia — larger than 2% of 1,869 state schools
Teachers (FTE) —
Students per teacher —
Free-lunch eligible 23.1% -61% vs state
NCES ID 510366001923
Student demographics
White 34.9%
African American 28.3%
Hispanic or Latino 19.4%
Two or More 9.1%
Asian 7.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.2%
Largest group: White at 34.9% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 27
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 7.0
Students per counselor 303:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 16.8%
In-school suspensions 65
Out-of-school suspensions 84
Expulsions 6
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Stafford County Public Schools, which includes Colonial Forge High.
$13,111
Per student
-19%
vs Virginia
Avg $16,211
-33%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 36.8%
State 52.1%
Federal 11.1%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 2,233
- Students per teacher
- 11.7:1
- Enrollment
- 2,199
- Students per teacher
- 11.4:1
- Enrollment
- 2,198
- Students per teacher
- 11.6:1
- Enrollment
- 1,982
- Students per teacher
- 12.2:1
- Enrollment
- 1,063
- Students per teacher
- 15.1:1
Similar high schools in Stafford
3 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Colonial Forge High
How many students attend Colonial Forge High?
Colonial Forge High has 2,122 students enrolled. It is a high school in Stafford, VA.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Colonial Forge High?
23.1% of students at Colonial Forge High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Virginia average of 59.9%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Colonial Forge High?
The largest demographic group at Colonial Forge High is White at 34.9%. The school serves a diverse student body in Stafford, VA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Colonial Forge High?
Colonial Forge High has a Resource Investment Index of 67/100 (B-) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.