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The Opportunity Gap

Is Your State Providing Equal Access to Education?

This database was last updated in January 2013 and should only be used as a historical snapshot of data from the 2009-10 school year. For more recent data on public and charter schools, check out Miseducation.

ProPublica analyzed federal education data from the 2009-2010 school year to examine whether states provide high-poverty schools equal access to advanced courses and special programs that researchers say will help them later in life. This is the first nationwide picture of exactly which courses are being taken at which schools and districts across the country. More than three-quarters of all public school children are represented. Read our story and our methodology.

From http://projects.propublica.org/schools. © Copyright 2011 Pro Publica Inc.

Find a school

University City Sr. High

7401 BALSON AVE, UNIVERSITY CITY, MO., 63130 | Grades 9-12

Districts with 3,000 or more students
Students Total Teachers Inexp. Teachers AP Courses
This School
1,030
73
12% 12
District 3,265 245 11% 12
State 588K 39,863 11% 6
 
State Average
 
District Average

Percentage of relevant students who...

Get Free/Reduced Price Lunch

34%
56%

52%
State Avg: 34% District Avg: 56%

Take at Least One AP Course

15%
7%

7%
State Avg: 15% District Avg: 7%

Take Advanced Math

13%
3%

3%
State Avg: 13% District Avg: 3%

Are in a Gifted/Talented Program

6%
8%

8%
State Avg: 6% District Avg: 8%

Take Chemistry

16%
11%

11%
State Avg: 16% District Avg: 11%

Take Physics

6%
4%

4%
State Avg: 6% District Avg: 4%

Participate in sports

42%
0.0%

39%
State Avg: 42% District Avg: 0.0%

Are

0%
0%

0% Am Indian
State Avg: 0% District Avg: 0%
3%
2%

1% Asian
State Avg: 3% District Avg: 2%
22%
84%

90% Black
State Avg: 22% District Avg: 84%
5%
2%

0% Hispanic
State Avg: 5% District Avg: 2%
70%
12%

8% White
State Avg: 70% District Avg: 12%

University City Sr. High, in University City, Missouri, is part of the University City district. The school reports enrolling 1,030 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 73 teachers on staff.

University City Sr. High is above the state average but below the district average in terms of the percentage of its students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. On average, 34 percent of students in Missouri qualify for free or reduced-price lunch programs, whereas 52 percent of University City Sr. High students do. At the district level, 56 percent of students qualify.

ProPublica's analysis found that all too often, states and schools provide poor students fewer educational programs like Advanced Placement, gifted and talented programs, and advanced math and science classes. Studies have linked participation in these programs with better outcomes later in life. Our analysis uses free and reduced-price lunch to estimate poverty at schools. We based our findings on the most comprehensive data set of access to advanced classes and special programs in U.S. public schools — known as the Civil Rights Data Set— released by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

University City Sr. High offers 12 AP courses, and 7 percent of students participate in those classes.

University City Sr. High's enrollment rates in chemistry, physics and advanced math subject areas are 11 percent, 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Gifted and talented at the school has an enrollment rate of 8 percent.

Lafayette Sr. High, a lower-poverty school than University City Sr. High, does not have any students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school enrolls 27 percent of its students in AP classes. It is located in Wildwood, Mo.

These data points were reported by schools and districts to the Office for Civil Rights. For more information about the data, see our full methodology.

— Generated by Narrative Science