Romulus Virtual Learning Center

Romulus Virtual Learning Center is a small public virtual school in Romulus, MI, serving just 118 students in grades 6 through 12 as part of the Romulus Community Schools district, where over 83% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

The most critical concern for parents is the school's graduation rate. Only 42.1% of students graduated in 2024-2025, compared to 85.8% at Romulus Senior High School in the same district, 86.2% at Summit Academy North High School, and 87.1% at American International Academy High SchoolMiddle Schooll. The state average is 84.0%. This means fewer than half of RVLC students finish high school, and the dropout rate of 14.0% is nearly double the state rate. In 2022-2023, the dropout rate spiked to 32.4%—meaning one in three students left without graduating. The student-teacher ratio has also ballooned to 53.6:1, far higher than the 16.9:1 at Romulus Senior High, suggesting very limited access to direct teacher help.

Interestingly, chronic absenteeism at RVLC (27.7%) is actually lower than the district average (41.6%), and test scores for students who remain enrolled are not dramatically worse than traditional schools—33.3% of 10th graders were proficient in English Language Arts, slightly above Romulus Senior High's 31.6%. However, per-student spending has nearly doubled in three years to $12,858, while outcomes have not improved. The school's struggles mirror those of Taylor Virtual Learning Academy, just 5.3 miles away, which also shows low graduation rates and high dropout rates. For families weighing options, the data strongly suggests that traditional in-person schools like Taylor High School, Belleville High School, or Wayne Memorial High School offer substantially better outcomes for student persistence and graduation.