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Caldwell Early College

Q: Is Caldwell Early College a good school?

Caldwell Early College ranks 95 th of 641 North Carolina high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Public Grades 9-12

95^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 641 North Carolina High Schools

Better than 85% of North Carolina high schools

Summary

Caldwell Early College is a public high school in Hudson, North Carolina, serving grades 9-12 with a total enrollment of 398 students. This school consistently outperforms the Caldwell County Schools district and the state of North Carolina in academic metrics, ranking among the top 100 high schools in the state for the past five years.

Caldwell Early College's academic excellence is evident across various measures. In the 2024-2025 school year, the school had an 89.8% proficiency rate in end-of-course (EOC) Biology, compared to 41.6% for the Caldwell County Schools district and 48.3% for the state. Additionally, the school's performance in specific student subgroups, such as Hispanic students and low socioeconomic status students, ranks among the top high schools in North Carolina. However, the school's performance in the "Gifted and Talented Students" subgroup is an area that could be improved.

Caldwell Early College's proximity to another high-performing school, Caldwell Applied Sciences Academy, suggests potential collaboration and resource-sharing opportunities. When compared to nearby high schools, such as West Caldwell High, Hibriten High, and South Caldwell High, Caldwell Early College consistently outperforms them in academic metrics. However, the school's higher student-teacher ratio compared to some nearby schools, such as Gateway School and Hickory Career Arts Magnet High School, may be an area to explore in terms of providing more individualized attention and support for students.

387

Students ?

24.9

Student/teacher ratio ?

$7,027

Per pupil spending ?

39%

Free/discounted lunch ?

2859 Hickory Blvd SW
Hudson, NC 28638

(828) 759-4636

District: Caldwell County Schools

Racial breakdown:

White:

73.6%

Hispanic:

17.6%

Two or more races:

4.7%

See top rated North Carolina high schools

Compare Caldwell Early College to nearby high schools!

At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 84th percentile in 2021 → 85th in 2025

Strengths

✓Test scores above the North Carolina average (84% vs 53% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 15% of North Carolina high schools

✓Among the top-ranked schools in Caldwell County Schools

Worth a look

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

!Large classes — about 25 students per teacher

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school84%

District avg52%

North Carolina avg53%

95^th of 641

North Carolina public high schools ?

Top 15%▲ up 2 pts since 2021

See the entire ranking list of North Carolina High Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

1^st of 5High Schools in the Caldwell County Schools

141^st of 242Caldwell County Schools among North Carolina districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	87.2	95 of 641	85.2%	★★★★☆
2024	81.7	126 of 640	80.3%	★★★★☆
2023	83.6	110 of 626	82.4%	★★★★☆
2022	86.9	95 of 621	84.7%	★★★★☆
2021	85.5	97 of 594	83.7%	★★★★☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	87.8	80 of 610	86.9%	★★★★☆
2024	79.1	134 of 602	77.7%	★★★★☆
2023	82.7	102 of 588	82.7%	★★★★☆
2022	83.1	98 of 594	83.5%	★★★★☆

Gifted and Talented

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	55.7	231 of 412	43.9%	★★☆☆☆
2024	58.2	211 of 403	47.6%	★★☆☆☆
2023	56.3	206 of 403	48.9%	★★☆☆☆
2022	77.5	58 of 398	85.4%	★★★★☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	92.1	47 of 462	89.8%	★★★★★
2024	90.1	58 of 454	87.2%	★★★★☆
2023	90.7	53 of 449	88.2%	★★★★☆
2022	90.5	53 of 436	87.8%	★★★★☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	93.3	64 of 606	89.4%	★★★★☆
2024	86.3	99 of 613	83.8%	★★★★☆
2023	79.3	109 of 597	81.7%	★★★★☆
2022	93.3	53 of 544	90.3%	★★★★★

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	84.9	110 of 601	81.7%	★★★★☆
2024	82.3	124 of 607	79.6%	★★★★☆
2023	81.5	123 of 602	79.6%	★★★★☆
2022	92.1	65 of 585	88.9%	★★★★☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	82.1	98 of 542	81.9%	★★★★☆
2024	75.2	146 of 553	73.6%	★★★★☆
2023	78.6	117 of 537	78.2%	★★★★☆
2022	80.0	108 of 534	79.8%	★★★★☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Hispanic (2025)90th percentile+5 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)89th percentile+4 vs school

Female (2025)87th percentile~ school

White (2025)82nd percentile-3 vs school

Male (2025)82nd percentile-3 vs school

Gifted and Talented (2025)44th percentile-41 vs school

By subject vs North Carolina (2024-2025) ?

Math III93%+27 vs state

English II92%+33 vs state

Biology90%+42 vs state

Math I55%+21 vs state

★

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Schools Near Caldwell Early College

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				EOC Biology (2025)	EOC English II (2025)	EOC Math I (2025)	EOC Math III (2025)	EOG Mathematics (2025)	EOG Reading (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOC Biology End of Course	EOC English II End of Course	EOC Math I End of Course	EOC Math III End of Course	EOG Mathematics 7th Grade	EOG Reading 7th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Caldwell Early College	Public	9-12	2859 Hickory Blvd SW	Hudson	28638	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 759-4636	387	16	24.9	39.0%	285 (73.6%)	8 (2.1%)	68 (17.6%)	8 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.7%)	87.2	95^th of 641 public high schools	85.2%		81.7	126^th of 640 public high schools	80.3%	31	89.8	92.5	55.4	93.4			$7,027	$517	$6,510
Caldwell Applied Sciences Academy	Public	9-12	2857 Hickory Boulevard	Hudson	28638	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 759-4640	218	10	21.1	33.9%	173 (79.4%)	4 (1.8%)	25 (11.5%)	4 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.5%)	84.4	113^th of 641 public high schools	82.4%		80.9	130^th of 640 public high schools	79.7%	17	78.2	87.3	60.0	85.2			$8,388	$210	$8,178
South Caldwell High	Public	9-12	7035 Spartan Drive	Hudson	28638	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 396-2188	1,272	67	19.0	99.1%	1,030 (81.0%)	25 (2.0%)	151 (11.9%)	7 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (4.6%)	51	288^th of 641 public high schools	55.1%		46.9	318^th of 640 public high schools	50.3%	30	40.5	62.7	35.7	79.0			$9,486	$729	$8,757
Hibriten High	Public	9-12	1350 Panther Trail SE	Lenoir	28645	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 758-7376	818	39	21.0	98.7%	538 (65.8%)	71 (8.7%)	147 (18.0%)	7 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	53 (6.5%)	39	383^rd of 641 public high schools	40.2%		38.2	382^nd of 640 public high schools	40.3%	1	31.9	54.4	30.3	72.5			$10,067	$942	$9,125
West Caldwell High	Public	9-12	300 W Caldwell Drive	Lenoir	28645	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 758-5583	634	36	17.7	98.7%	364 (57.4%)	63 (9.9%)	147 (23.2%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	54 (8.5%)	17.6	542^nd of 641 public high schools	15.4%		17.9	529^th of 640 public high schools	17.3%	13	21.7	37.2	28.4	39.7			$11,229	$831	$10,398
Gateway School	Public	6-12	1889 Dudley Shoals Road	Granite Falls	28630	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 396-8373	53	9	5.9	94.3%	33 (62.3%)	2 (3.8%)	9 (17.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (15.1%)								(n/a)			18.2		7.7	23.1	$28,313	$1,830	$26,484
Draughn High School	Public	9-12	709 Lovelady Road NE	Valdese	28690	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 879-4200	661	24	27.3	98.2%	495 (74.9%)	13 (2.0%)	69 (10.4%)	43 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	36 (5.4%)	59	235^th of 641 public high schools	63.3%		71.4	172^nd of 640 public high schools	73.1%	63	50.3	60.5	64.7	69.3			$9,112	$776	$8,336
East Burke High	Public	9-12	3695 East Burke Boulevard	Connelly Springs	28612	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 397-5541	874	38	23.1	99.4%	655 (74.9%)	16 (1.8%)	86 (9.8%)	71 (8.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	44 (5.0%)	56.3	254^th of 641 public high schools	60.4%		54.5	265^th of 640 public high schools	58.6%	11	58.9	67.1	41.5	63.5			$9,240	$806	$8,435
Hallyburton Academy	Public	6-12	205 South Main Street	Drexel	28619	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 437-4184	73	9	8.4	95.9%	45 (61.6%)	5 (6.8%)	12 (16.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	10 (13.7%)	2.5	635^th of 641 public high schools	0.9%		5.3	615^th of 640 public high schools	3.9%	20	12.5	14.3		8.3			$18,048	$1,530	$16,517
Hickory High	Public	9-12	1234 3rd Street NE	Hickory	28601	Catawba County	Hickory City Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 322-5860	1,024	38	26.6	99.7%	358 (35.0%)	196 (19.1%)	297 (29.0%)	47 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	120 (11.7%)	26.1	486^th of 641 public high schools	24.2%		37.8	390^th of 640 public high schools	39.1%	96	23.9	49.0	25.6	57.9			$8,704	$694	$8,010

Frequently Asked Questions about Caldwell Early College

What district is Caldwell Early College in?

Caldwell County Schools

Is Caldwell Early College a good school?

Caldwell Early College ranks 95^th of 641 North Carolina high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

What is the racial makeup of Caldwell Early College?

Students at Caldwell Early College are 74% White, 18% Hispanic, 5% Two or more races, 2% African American, 2% Asian.

How many students attend Caldwell Early College?

In the 2024-25 school year, 387 students attended Caldwell Early College.

Rate Caldwell Early College!

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.