Enrollment
839
New Jersey · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Somerdale, NJ
Sterling High School
Federal NCES profile for Sterling High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 52/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 340288001662
👥 S:T ratio 52
📚 AP courses 40
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 66
📋 Attendance 71
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Sterling High School earns 52/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the New Jersey median.
- 52
- Resource Index · Higher
- 12:1
- students per teacher
- 24.8%
- free-lunch eligible
- 839
- students enrolled
Sterling High School has class sizes near the New Jersey median. Computed live against every New Jersey school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Sterling Regional School District · New Jersey
NCES ID 340288001662 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
70.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12:1
vs 11.8:1 New Jersey avg
+2% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
24.8%
vs 29.6% New Jersey avg
-16% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Sterling High School compares with New Jersey and U.S. medians
What stands out at Sterling High School
Sterling High School is a large high school in Somerdale, New Jersey, enrolling 839 students.
Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 12:1 puts it in the larger third of New Jersey schools by student-teacher ratio.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 24.8% lands close to the New Jersey typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
Enrollment of 839 puts it in the larger third of New Jersey schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 2,501 scored New Jersey schools.
Against 301 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #127.
Its student body is led by White (50%) and Hispanic or Latino (22%) (diversity index 67/100).
On the academic-pipeline side it reports 8 Advanced Placement courses.
Counselor coverage is strong, about 168 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
11.7% of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 collection, in line with the post-pandemic national range.
Sterling Regional School District operates only this one school, so Sterling High School has no district-mates to compare against locally.
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 Sterling High School compares
Sterling High School on the metrics families compare, against New Jersey and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs New Jersey | New Jersey avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 12:1 | ▲ 2% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 24.8% | ▼ 16% | 29.6% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 839 | top 14% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
12:1
Leaner classes than 75% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
839
Bigger than 87% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
24.8%
free-lunch eligible
- 16% below the New Jersey average of 29.6%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
12:1
students per teacher
- 2% above state mean
Top 61% in New Jersey - lower ratio than 39% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
11.7%
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
$22,843
per pupil, district-wide
- below New Jersey avg of $24,984
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors5.0 FTE
Per 168 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
132
in-school suspensions + 31 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 15.7 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 19.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 49.5%
Hispanic or Latino 21.8%
African American 19.5%
Two or More 4.9%
Asian 4.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Largest group: White at 49.5% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 66.5/100
Simpson diversity index - at 66.5, Sterling High School is more mixed than the New Jersey school average of 51.2.
Programs
AP courses offered 8
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Sterling Regional School District, which includes Sterling High School.
$22,843
Per student
-9%
vs New Jersey
Avg $24,984
+38%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 38.7%
State 55.3%
Federal 6.0%
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.
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of New Jersey, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~839 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Sterling High School's federal record.
- Compare Sterling High School against another school. Compare schools
- Sterling Regional School District'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 Sterling High School
How many students attend Sterling High School?
Sterling High School has 839 students enrolled. It is a high school in Somerdale, NJ.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sterling High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Sterling High School is 12:1, which is 2% higher than the New Jersey average of 11.8:1 and 24% lower than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Sterling High School?
24.8% of students at Sterling High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the New Jersey average of 29.6%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Sterling High School?
The largest demographic group at Sterling High School is White at 49.5% of enrollment, in Somerdale, NJ. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 66.5/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Sterling High School?
Sterling High School has a Resource Investment Index of 52/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Sterling High School a good school?
Sterling High School earns 52/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the New Jersey median. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Sterling Regional School District?
None reported; Sterling Regional School District operates only Sterling High School as a public school district in NCES's records.
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 June 2026.