Enrollment
464
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Columbia, CA
Columbia Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Columbia Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 13/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 060948000962
👥 S:T ratio 16
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 7
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Columbia Elementary earns 13/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the California median.
- 13
- Resource Index · Lower
- 21.1:1
- students per teacher
- 50.3%
- free-lunch eligible
- 464
- students enrolled
Columbia Elementary has class sizes near the California median. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Columbia Union · California
NCES ID 060948000962 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
22.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
21.1:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
-2% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
50.3%
vs 55.5% California avg
-9% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Columbia Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
What stands out at Columbia Elementary
Columbia Elementary is a higher-need, mid-sized elementary school in Columbia, California, enrolling 464 students.
At 21.1:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the California median, within a few percentage points of the 21.5:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 50.3% lands close to the California typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
With 464 students, its enrollment sits close to the California median campus size.
Its Resource Investment Index trails 94% of the 9,998 California schools with a score on record, one of the lower results on this measure.
Among 1,468 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need California schools statewide, it ranks #1,320, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by White (70%) and Hispanic or Latino (21%) (diversity index 47/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 464 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 49.1% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Columbia Union operates only this one school, so Columbia Elementary has no district-mates to compare against locally.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Columbia Elementary compares
Columbia Elementary on the metrics families compare, against California and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 21.1:1 | ▼ 2% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 50.3% | ▼ 9% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 464 | top 50% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
21.1:1
Leaner classes than 13% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
464
Bigger than 57% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
50.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 9% below the California average of 55.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
21.1:1
students per teacher
- 2% below state mean
Top 44% in California - lower ratio than 56% of state schools
Above 20:1, running heavier than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is comparatively stretched.
Engagement
49.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$13,639
per pupil, district-wide
- below California avg of $16,509
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 464 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
2
in-school suspensions + 13 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.4 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 3.2 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 69.5%
Hispanic or Latino 20.5%
Two or More 5.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native 2.6%
African American 1.1%
Asian 0.9%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.4%
Largest group: White at 69.5% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 47.2/100
Simpson diversity index - at 47.2, Columbia Elementary is about as mixed as the California school average of 46.0.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Columbia Union, which includes Columbia Elementary.
$13,639
Per student
-17%
vs California
Avg $16,509
-18%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 35.2%
State 51.3%
Federal 13.5%
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.
Similar elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of California, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~464 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~21.1:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Columbia Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Columbia Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Columbia Union's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Columbia Elementary
How many students attend Columbia Elementary?
Columbia Elementary has 464 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Columbia, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Columbia Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Columbia Elementary is 21.1:1, which is 2% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 34% higher than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Columbia Elementary?
50.3% of students at Columbia Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Columbia Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Columbia Elementary is White at 69.5% of enrollment, in Columbia, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Columbia Elementary?
Columbia Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 13/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Columbia Elementary a good school?
Columbia Elementary earns 13/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the California median. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Columbia Union?
None reported; Columbia Union operates only Columbia Elementary as a public school district in NCES's records.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.