Enrollment
555
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 190873000501
Decorah High School — Decorah, IA
Federal NCES profile for Decorah High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 39/100.
👥 Class size 38
📚 AP courses 35
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 50
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: Decorah Community School District · Iowa
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.
Teachers (FTE)
37.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
15.6:1
vs 15:1 Iowa avg
+4% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
18.2%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
-50% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Decorah High School compares with Iowa and U.S. medians
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
Decorah High School reports 555 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 37.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 15.6:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 4% above the Iowa state mean of 15:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 2% lower, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 18.2% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 50% below the Iowa average and 65% below the national baseline. The school offers 7 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 555 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 20.0% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Decorah Community School District spends $15,164 per pupil district-wide, below the Iowa average of $17,211 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 47.6% from local sources (property taxes), 43.0% from the state, and 9.3% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 39/100 (F), calculated from 5 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 Decorah High School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Iowa state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Iowa | Iowa avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 15.6:1 | ▲ 4% | 15:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 18.2% | ▼ 50% | 36.4% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 555 | top 85% | — | — |
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
18.2%
free-lunch eligible
— 50% below the Iowa average of 36.4%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
15.6:1
students per teacher
— 4% above state mean
Top 71% in Iowa — lower ratio than 29% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
20.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$15,164
per pupil, district-wide
— below Iowa avg of $17,211
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 555 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
37
in-school suspensions + 2 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 6.7 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 7.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 555 Top 85% in Iowa — larger than 15% of 1,326 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 37.0
Students per teacher 15.6:1 +4% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 18.2% -50% vs state
NCES ID 190873000501
Student demographics
White 90.3%
Hispanic or Latino 6.1%
Two or More 1.6%
Asian 1.1%
African American 0.9%
Largest group: White at 90.3% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 7
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 1.0
Students per counselor 555:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 20.0%
In-school suspensions 37
Out-of-school suspensions 2
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Decorah Community School District, which includes Decorah High School.
$15,164
Per student
-12%
vs Iowa
Avg $17,211
-22%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 47.6%
State 43.0%
Federal 9.3%
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
- 432
- Students per teacher
- 13.2:1
- Enrollment
- 300
- Students per teacher
- 13.1:1
- Enrollment
- 215
- Students per teacher
- 13.2:1
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 Decorah High School
How many students attend Decorah High School?
Decorah High School has 555 students enrolled. It is a high school in Decorah, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Decorah High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Decorah High School is 15.6:1, which is 4% higher than the Iowa average of 15:1 and 2% lower than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Decorah High School?
18.2% of students at Decorah High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Decorah High School?
The largest demographic group at Decorah High School is White at 90.3%. The school serves a diverse student body in Decorah, IA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Decorah High School?
Decorah High School has a Resource Investment Index of 39/100 (F) based on 5 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.