Enrollment
56
North Dakota · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Fessenden, ND
Fessenden-Bowdon High School
Federal NCES profile for Fessenden-Bowdon High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 61/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 380004900213
👥 S:T ratio 55
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 89
📋 Attendance 69
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Fessenden-Bowdon High School earns 61/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the North Dakota median.
- 61
- Resource Index · Higher
- 11.2:1
- students per teacher
- 12.2%
- free-lunch eligible
- 56
- students enrolled
Fessenden-Bowdon High School has class sizes near the North Dakota median. Computed live against every North Dakota school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Fessenden-Bowdon 25 · North Dakota
NCES ID 380004900213 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
5.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
11.2:1
vs 11.8:1 North Dakota avg
-5% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
12.2%
vs 28.2% North Dakota avg
-57% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Fessenden-Bowdon High School compares with North Dakota and U.S. medians
What stands out at Fessenden-Bowdon High School
Scale and staffing sit near the state mainstream
Fessenden-Bowdon High School is neither an extreme outlier in enrollment nor in student-teacher ratio among North Dakota schools. Its profile therefore turns on the other dimensions rather than on scale alone: economic need, counselor coverage, program access, attendance, and district finance. This middle placement is useful because it prevents the campus from being mislabeled as unusually large, small, crowded, or teacher-dense when the federal comparison does not support that claim.
Lower need and stronger resource signals align
Fessenden-Bowdon High School reports lower free-meal eligibility than most North Dakota schools and an above-typical Resource Investment Index. The two measures move together, a pattern consistent with the resource advantages that often accompany a lower-need intake. That association should not be mistaken for a causal verdict about the school; it is a transparent description of how this campus sits on two independent federal-data dimensions.
No single support indicator dominates
Fessenden-Bowdon High School's available federal support indicators do not reveal an extreme in advanced-course access, specialist staffing, chronic absence, or IDEA enrollment. The most responsible reading is therefore component by component rather than a sweeping verdict: current counseling availability, health support, program schedules, and attendance policy still warrant direct confirmation. Missing or middle-range federal fields are not evidence that services are either strong or weak.
Fessenden-Bowdon High School is a lower-poverty, mid-sized high school in Fessenden, North Dakota, enrolling 56 students.
At 11.2:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the North Dakota median, within a few percentage points of the 11.8:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.
Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 12.2% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 56 puts it in the smaller third of North Dakota schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 498 scored North Dakota schools.
Against 42 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #14.
Its student body is predominantly White (96% of enrollment) (diversity index 7/100).
No Advanced Placement courses are reported for this campus in the federal data.
Counselor coverage is strong, about 56 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
12.5% of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 collection, in line with the post-pandemic national range.
Its district, Fessenden-Bowdon 25, also runs Fessenden-Bowdon Elementary School (140 students).
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 Fessenden-Bowdon High School compares
Fessenden-Bowdon High School on the metrics families compare, against North Dakota and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs North Dakota | North Dakota avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 11.2:1 | ▼ 5% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 12.2% | ▼ 57% | 28.2% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 56 | top 82% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
11.2:1
Leaner classes than 82% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
56
Bigger than 6% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
12.2%
free-lunch eligible
- 57% below the North Dakota average of 28.2%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
11.2:1
students per teacher
- 5% below state mean
Top 47% in North Dakota - lower ratio than 53% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
12.5%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 10-15% range, above the pre-pandemic national baseline but within the broader post-pandemic picture.
Funding equity
$16,781
per pupil, district-wide
- below North Dakota avg of $18,450
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 56 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 96.4%
Two or More 3.6%
Largest group: White at 96.4% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 6.9/100
Simpson diversity index - at 6.9, Fessenden-Bowdon High School is less mixed than the North Dakota school average of 29.7.
Programs
AP program Not offered
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Fessenden-Bowdon 25, which includes Fessenden-Bowdon High School.
$16,781
Per student
-9%
vs North Dakota
Avg $18,450
+1%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 42.8%
State 49.1%
Federal 8.1%
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.
How Fessenden-Bowdon High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fessenden-Bowdon Elementary School | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Fessenden-Bowdon High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 140
- Students per teacher
- 12.7:1
- Resource Index
- 52/100
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of North Dakota, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~56 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~11.2:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Fessenden-Bowdon High School's federal record.
- Compare Fessenden-Bowdon High School against another school. Compare schools
- Fessenden-Bowdon 25'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 Fessenden-Bowdon High School
How many students attend Fessenden-Bowdon High School?
Fessenden-Bowdon High School has 56 students enrolled. It is a high school in Fessenden, ND.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Fessenden-Bowdon High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Fessenden-Bowdon High School is 11.2:1, which is 5% lower than the North Dakota average of 11.8:1 and 29% lower 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 Fessenden-Bowdon High School?
12.2% of students at Fessenden-Bowdon High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the North Dakota average of 28.2%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Fessenden-Bowdon High School?
The largest demographic group at Fessenden-Bowdon High School is White at 96.4% of enrollment, in Fessenden, ND.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Fessenden-Bowdon High School?
Fessenden-Bowdon High School has a Resource Investment Index of 61/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Fessenden-Bowdon 25?
Besides Fessenden-Bowdon High School, Fessenden-Bowdon 25 also operates Fessenden-Bowdon Elementary School (140 students). See the Fessenden-Bowdon 25 district page for the complete list.
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 July 2026.