Enrollment
1,490
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 190948000604
Dubuque Senior High School — Dubuque, IA
Federal NCES profile for Dubuque Senior High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 51/100.
👥 Class size 58
📚 AP courses 70
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 57
📋 Attendance 0
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: Dubuque Comm 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)
135.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
10.6:1
vs 15:1 Iowa avg
-29% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
30.8%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
-15% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Dubuque Senior 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
Dubuque Senior High School reports 1,490 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 135.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 10.6:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 29% below the Iowa state mean of 15:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 33% lower, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 30.8% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 15% below the Iowa average and 41% below the national baseline. The school offers 14 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 213 students per counselor, meeting the American School Counselor Association recommendation of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 41.4% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Dubuque Comm School District spends $16,003 per pupil district-wide, below the Iowa average of $17,211 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 35.2% from local sources (property taxes), 50.4% from the state, and 14.4% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 51/100 (C-), 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 Dubuque Senior 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 | 10.6:1 | ▼ 29% | 15:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 30.8% | ▼ 15% | 36.4% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 1,490 | top 99% | — | — |
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
30.8%
free-lunch eligible
— 15% 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
10.6:1
students per teacher
— 29% below state mean
Top 6% in Iowa — lower ratio than 94% of state schools
Below the 15:1 benchmark — typical of schools with smaller class sizes and more individualized attention.
Engagement
41.4%
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
$16,003
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
Counselors7.0 FTE
Per 213 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
54
in-school suspensions + 113 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 3.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 11.2 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 1,490 Top 99% in Iowa — larger than 1% of 1,326 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 135.0
Students per teacher 10.6:1 -29% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 30.8% -15% vs state
NCES ID 190948000604
Student demographics
White 72.8%
African American 10.6%
Two or More 6.3%
Hispanic or Latino 6.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 3.3%
Asian 0.7%
Largest group: White at 72.8% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 14
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 7.0
Students per counselor 213:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 41.4%
In-school suspensions 54
Out-of-school suspensions 113
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Dubuque Comm School District, which includes Dubuque Senior High School.
$16,003
Per student
-7%
vs Iowa
Avg $17,211
-18%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 35.2%
State 50.4%
Federal 14.4%
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
- 1,499
- Students per teacher
- 14.5:1
- Enrollment
- 1,081
- Students per teacher
- 14:1
- Enrollment
- 584
- Students per teacher
- 11.8:1
- Enrollment
- 568
- Students per teacher
- 15.7:1
- Enrollment
- 499
- Students per teacher
- 15.7:1
Similar high schools in Dubuque
1 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 Dubuque Senior High School
How many students attend Dubuque Senior High School?
Dubuque Senior High School has 1,490 students enrolled. It is a high school in Dubuque, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Dubuque Senior High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Dubuque Senior High School is 10.6:1, which is 29% lower than the Iowa average of 15:1 and 33% lower than the national average of 15.9:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Dubuque Senior High School?
30.8% of students at Dubuque Senior High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Dubuque Senior High School?
The largest demographic group at Dubuque Senior High School is White at 72.8%. The school serves a diverse student body in Dubuque, IA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Dubuque Senior High School?
Dubuque Senior High School has a Resource Investment Index of 51/100 (C-) 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.