Enrollment
885
Washington · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 530288000465
Fife High School — Tacoma, WA
Federal NCES profile for Fife High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 47/100.
👥 Class size 12
📚 AP courses 40
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 59
📋 Attendance 52
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: Fife School District · Washington
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)
40.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
22:1
vs 17.8:1 Washington avg
+24% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
35.5%
vs 45.0% Washington avg
-21% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Fife High School compares with Washington 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
Fife High School reports 885 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 40.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 22:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 24% above the Washington state mean of 17.8:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 38% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 35.5% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 21% below the Washington average and 31% below the national baseline. The school offers 8 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 206 students per counselor, meeting the American School Counselor Association recommendation of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 19.3% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Fife School District spends $29,777 per pupil district-wide, above the Washington average of $23,175 and above the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 32.2% from local sources (property taxes), 59.8% from the state, and 8.0% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 47/100 (D), 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 Fife High School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Washington state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Washington | Washington avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 22:1 | ▲ 24% | 17.8:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 35.5% | ▼ 21% | 45.0% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 885 | top 91% | — | — |
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
35.5%
free-lunch eligible
— 21% below the Washington average of 45.0%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
22:1
students per teacher
— 24% above state mean
Top 89% in Washington — lower ratio than 11% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
19.3%
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
$29,777
per pupil, district-wide
— above Washington avg of $23,175
Above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors4.3 FTE
Per 206 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
13
in-school suspensions + 44 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 6.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 6 expulsions.
Overview
Enrollment 885 Top 91% in Washington — larger than 9% of 2,465 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 40.0
Students per teacher 22:1 +24% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 35.5% -21% vs state
NCES ID 530288000465
Student demographics
White 39.4%
Hispanic or Latino 24.8%
Two or More 11.1%
Asian 10.5%
African American 7.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 5.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 1.0%
Largest group: White at 39.4% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 8
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 4.3
Students per counselor 206:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 19.3%
In-school suspensions 13
Out-of-school suspensions 44
Expulsions 6
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Fife School District, which includes Fife High School.
$29,777
Per student
+28%
vs Washington
Avg $23,175
+53%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 32.2%
State 59.8%
Federal 8.0%
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
- 866
- Students per teacher
- 16.4:1
- Enrollment
- 619
- Students per teacher
- 18.8:1
- Enrollment
- 613
- Students per teacher
- 22.4:1
- Enrollment
- 506
- Students per teacher
- 15.5:1
- Enrollment
- 469
- Students per teacher
- 18.2:1
Similar high schools in Tacoma
6 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
Stadium High School
Standard public school
1,700 students 23.4:1 students per teacher
Lincoln High School
Standard public school
1,556 students 19:1 students per teacher
Mount Tahoma High School
Standard public school
1,410 students 20.4:1 students per teacher
Dr. Dolores Silas High School
Standard public school
1,160 students 23.2:1 students per teacher
Washington High School
Standard public school
989 students 16.1:1 students per teacher
Tacoma School of the Arts
Standard public school
658 students 18.4:1 students per teacher
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 Fife High School
How many students attend Fife High School?
Fife High School has 885 students enrolled. It is a high school in Tacoma, WA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Fife High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Fife High School is 22:1, which is 24% higher than the Washington average of 17.8:1 and 38% higher than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Fife High School?
35.5% of students at Fife High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Washington average of 45.0%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Fife High School?
The largest demographic group at Fife High School is White at 39.4%. The school serves a diverse student body in Tacoma, WA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Fife High School?
Fife High School has a Resource Investment Index of 47/100 (D) 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.