Enrollment
559
Arkansas · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 050924001372
Malvern High School — Malvern, AR
Federal NCES profile for Malvern High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 51/100.
👥 Class size 68
📚 AP courses 45
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 25
📋 Attendance 48
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: Malvern School District · Arkansas
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)
73.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
7.9:1
vs 13.6:1 Arkansas avg
-42% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
52.3%
vs 59.2% Arkansas avg
-12% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Malvern High School compares with Arkansas 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
Malvern High School reports 559 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 73.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 7.9:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 42% below the Arkansas state mean of 13.6:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 50% lower, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 52.3% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 12% below the Arkansas average and 1% above the national baseline. The school offers 9 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 373 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 20.9% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Malvern School District spends $14,496 per pupil district-wide, above the Arkansas average of $14,269 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 37.1% from local sources (property taxes), 39.4% from the state, and 23.5% 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 Malvern High School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Arkansas state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Arkansas | Arkansas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 7.9:1 | ▼ 42% | 13.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 52.3% | ▼ 12% | 59.2% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 559 | top 76% | — | — |
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
52.3%
free-lunch eligible
— 12% below the Arkansas average of 59.2%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
7.9:1
students per teacher
— 42% below state mean
Top 13% in Arkansas — lower ratio than 87% of state schools
Below the 15:1 benchmark — typical of schools with smaller class sizes and more individualized attention.
Engagement
20.9%
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
$14,496
per pupil, district-wide
— above Arkansas avg of $14,269
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.5 FTE
Per 373 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
40
in-school suspensions + 48 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 7.2 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 15.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 559 Top 76% in Arkansas — larger than 24% of 1,069 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 73.0
Students per teacher 7.9:1 -42% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 52.3% -12% vs state
NCES ID 050924001372
Student demographics
White 45.1%
African American 31.8%
Hispanic or Latino 12.7%
Two or More 9.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian 0.2%
Largest group: White at 45.1% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 9
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 1.5
Students per counselor 373:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 20.9%
In-school suspensions 40
Out-of-school suspensions 48
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Malvern School District, which includes Malvern High School.
$14,496
Per student
+2%
vs Arkansas
Avg $14,269
-26%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 37.1%
State 39.4%
Federal 23.5%
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
- 781
- Students per teacher
- 15.9:1
- Enrollment
- 272
- Students per teacher
- 14.2:1
- Enrollment
- 264
- Students per teacher
- 12.5:1
Similar high schools in Malvern
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 Malvern High School
How many students attend Malvern High School?
Malvern High School has 559 students enrolled. It is a high school in MALVERN, AR.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Malvern High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Malvern High School is 7.9:1, which is 42% lower than the Arkansas average of 13.6:1 and 50% 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 Malvern High School?
52.3% of students at Malvern High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Arkansas average of 59.2%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Malvern High School?
The largest demographic group at Malvern High School is White at 45.1%. The school serves a diverse student body in MALVERN, AR.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Malvern High School?
Malvern 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.