Enrollment
781
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Other / mixed grade configuration NCES 480021111952 Charter school
Idea Frontier College Preparatory — Brownsville, TX
Federal NCES profile for Idea Frontier College Preparatory, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 34/100.
👥 Class size 38
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 22
📋 Attendance 46
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: Idea Public Schools · Texas
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)
49.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
15.5:1
vs 14.6:1 Texas avg
+6% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
88.0%
vs 61.9% Texas avg
+42% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Idea Frontier College Preparatory compares with Texas 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
Idea Frontier College Preparatory reports 781 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 49.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 15.5:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 6% above the Texas state mean of 14.6:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 3% lower, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 88.0% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 42% above the Texas average and 70% above the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 391 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 21.5% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Idea Public Schools spends $11,965 per pupil district-wide, below the Texas average of $17,150 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 2.8% from local sources (property taxes), 76.8% from the state, and 20.4% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 34/100 (F), calculated from 4 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 Idea Frontier College Preparatory compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Texas state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Texas | Texas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 15.5:1 | ▲ 6% | 14.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 88.0% | ▲ 42% | 61.9% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 781 | top 80% | — | — |
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
88.0%
free-lunch eligible
— 42% above the Texas average of 61.9%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
15.5:1
students per teacher
— 6% above state mean
Top 65% in Texas — lower ratio than 35% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
21.5%
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
$11,965
per pupil, district-wide
— below Texas avg of $17,150
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 391 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
24
in-school suspensions + 47 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 3.1 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 9.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 781 Top 80% in Texas — larger than 20% of 9,061 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 49.0
Students per teacher 15.5:1 +6% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 88.0% +42% vs state
NCES ID 480021111952
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 97.3%
White 2.7%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 97.3% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 6
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 391:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 21.5%
In-school suspensions 24
Out-of-school suspensions 47
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Idea Public Schools, which includes Idea Frontier College Preparatory.
$11,965
Per student
-30%
vs Texas
Avg $17,150
-39%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 2.8%
State 76.8%
Federal 20.4%
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
- 848
- Students per teacher
- 16.1:1
- Enrollment
- 835
- Students per teacher
- 17.7:1
- Enrollment
- 823
- Students per teacher
- 13.7:1
- Enrollment
- 820
- Students per teacher
- 16.8:1
- Enrollment
- 813
- Students per teacher
- 15.1:1
Similar other schools in Brownsville
6 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Jubilee Brownsville
Standard public school
999 students 18.4:1 students per teacher
Pullam El
Standard public school
889 students 16.8:1 students per teacher
Castaneda El
Standard public school
823 students 14.8:1 students per teacher
Benavides El
Standard public school
818 students 16.6:1 students per teacher
Idea Riverview College Preparatory
Standard public school
813 students 15.1:1 students per teacher
Paredes El
Standard public school
798 students 15:1 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 Idea Frontier College Preparatory
How many students attend Idea Frontier College Preparatory?
Idea Frontier College Preparatory has 781 students enrolled. It is a other school in BROWNSVILLE, TX.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Idea Frontier College Preparatory?
The student-teacher ratio at Idea Frontier College Preparatory is 15.5:1, which is 6% higher than the Texas average of 14.6:1 and 3% lower than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Idea Frontier College Preparatory?
88.0% of students at Idea Frontier College Preparatory are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Idea Frontier College Preparatory?
The largest demographic group at Idea Frontier College Preparatory is Hispanic or Latino at 97.3%. The school serves a student body in BROWNSVILLE, TX.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Idea Frontier College Preparatory?
Idea Frontier College Preparatory has a Resource Investment Index of 34/100 (F) based on 4 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.