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Union County Early College

Public Grades 9-12

24^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 662 North Carolina High Schools

Better than 96% of North Carolina high schools

Summary

Union County Early College is a small public high school in Monroe, North Carolina, serving 340 students in grades 9–12 as part of Union County Public Schools. This school has earned a 5-star rating every year from 2020–21 through 2025–26, and it was ranked 24th out of 662 North Carolina high schools in the most recent year, after reaching as high as 8th statewide a few years earlier. Even in its weakest years, the school has never fallen below the 90th percentile in state rankings.

Academically, the results are exceptional. In 2025–26, 97.5% of students scored proficient in Biology, 97.1% in English II, 89.5% in Math I, and 100% in Math III—all far above district and state averages. These numbers also outpace nearby schools with more affluent student bodies. For example, Union County Early College posted stronger proficiency rates in Biology, Math I, and Math III than both Cuthbertson High and Weddington High. The contrast with Monroe High, located just over six miles away, is especially striking: Early College outperforms Monroe High by roughly 50 to 68 percentage points in every tested subject.

What makes this success particularly noteworthy is the school's student population—about 35% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and its Hispanic students rank at the 97th percentile statewide while students from low-income families rank at the 95th percentile. Chronic absenteeism sits at just 6.1%, compared to 21.1% at Sun Valley High, a comprehensive high school located only 1.7 miles away. Alongside Central Academy of Technology and Arts, another specialized school about five miles away, Union County Early College shows that a focused early-college model can deliver outstanding outcomes even while serving a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students than its specialized peer.

340

Students ?

23.4

Student/teacher ratio ?

35%

Free/discounted lunch ?

4209A Old Charlotte Hwy
Monroe, NC 28110

(704) 290-1565

District: Union County Public Schools

Racial breakdown:

White:

47.6%

Hispanic:

36.8%

African American:

7.4%

See top rated North Carolina high schools

Compare Union County Early College to nearby high schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 90th percentile in 2021 → 96th in 2026

Strengths

✓Test scores above the North Carolina average (97% vs 60% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 4% of North Carolina high schools

✓Ranking is trending up — up 6 percentile points since 2021

Worth a look

!Large classes — about 23 students per teacher

Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?

This school97%

District avg74%

North Carolina avg60%

24^th of 662

North Carolina public high schools ?

Top 4%▲ up 6 pts since 2021

From top 10% (2021) to top 4% (2026)

See the entire ranking list of North Carolina High Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

43^rd of 246Union County Public 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
2026	93.4	24 of 662	96.4%	★★★★★
2025	95.6	12 of 641	98.1%	★★★★★
2024	95.6	20 of 640	96.9%	★★★★★
2023	96.1	8 of 626	98.7%	★★★★★
2022	92.7	49 of 621	92.1%	★★★★★
2021	91.8	57 of 594	90.4%	★★★★★

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	92.0	38 of 629	94.0%	★★★★★
2025	93.2	40 of 610	93.4%	★★★★★
2024	94.2	26 of 602	95.7%	★★★★★
2023	95.2	12 of 588	98.0%	★★★★★
2022	89.9	61 of 594	89.7%	★★★★☆

Gifted and Talented

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	74.3	58 of 407	85.7%	★★★★☆
2024	78.8	21 of 403	94.8%	★★★★★
2023	80.8	49 of 403	87.8%	★★★★☆
2022	81.4	37 of 398	90.7%	★★★★★

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	96.4	16 of 474	96.6%	★★★★★
2025	96.5	26 of 462	94.4%	★★★★★
2024	97.4	21 of 454	95.4%	★★★★★
2023	97.8	21 of 449	95.3%	★★★★★
2022	93.1	39 of 436	91.1%	★★★★★

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	95.9	33 of 620	94.7%	★★★★★
2025	96.2	36 of 606	94.1%	★★★★★
2024	97.3	27 of 613	95.6%	★★★★★
2023	98.0	16 of 597	97.3%	★★★★★
2022	95.9	36 of 544	93.4%	★★★★★

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	93.9	29 of 624	95.4%	★★★★★
2025	96.3	8 of 601	98.7%	★★★★★
2024	96.5	9 of 607	98.5%	★★★★★
2023	96.1	20 of 602	96.7%	★★★★★
2022	95.8	32 of 585	94.5%	★★★★★

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	91.3	28 of 551	94.9%	★★★★★
2025	94.1	8 of 542	98.5%	★★★★★
2024	93.5	23 of 553	95.8%	★★★★★
2023	95.3	4 of 537	99.3%	★★★★★
2022	91.5	43 of 534	91.9%	★★★★★

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 (2026)97th percentile~ school

Male (2026)95th percentile~ school

White (2026)95th percentile~ school

Low Socio Economic Status (2026)95th percentile~ school

Female (2026)94th percentile~ school

Gifted and Talented (2026)86th percentile-11 vs school

By subject vs North Carolina (2025-2026) ?

Math III100%+31 vs state

Biology97%+39 vs state

English II97%+32 vs state

Math I89%+47 vs state

1.0

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What people are saying

by a parent
Sunday, November 18, 2018

Unfortunatley, my son goes to this horrible school. The administration here is a joke. The administrators refuse to do anything about the never ending vandalism at this school. Close Quote

Schools Near Union County Early College

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				EOC Biology (2026)	EOC English II (2026)	EOC Math I (2026)	EOC Math III (2026)	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 (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	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	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Union County Early College	Public	9-12	4209A Old Charlotte Hwy	Monroe	28110	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 290-1565	340	15	23.4	35.0%	162 (47.6%)	25 (7.4%)	125 (36.8%)	21 (6.2%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.5%)	93.4	24^th of 662 public high schools	96.4%		95.6	12^th of 641 public high schools	98.1%	12	97.5	97.1	89.5	100.0	$7,707	$125	$7,583
Sun Valley High	Public	9-12	5211 Old Charlotte Hwy	Monroe	28110	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-3020	1,272	79	16.1	46.1%	589 (46.3%)	300 (23.6%)	289 (22.7%)	24 (1.9%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	68 (5.3%)	52.4	314^th of 662 public high schools	52.6%		45.1	339^th of 641 public high schools	47.1%	25	49.3	64.9	51.5	80.5	$8,375	$469	$7,906
Porter Ridge High School	Public	9-12	2839 Ridge Road	Indian Trail	28079	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 292-7662	1,809	93	19.4	39.4%	869 (48.0%)	280 (15.5%)	492 (27.2%)	64 (3.5%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	101 (5.6%)	71.8	177^th of 662 public high schools	73.3%		67	189^th of 641 public high schools	70.5%	12	68.2	78.8	60.5	86.8	$7,458	$458	$7,000
Central Academy of Technology and Arts	Public	9-12	600 Brewer Dr	Monroe	28112	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-3088	875	55	15.8	13.8%	500 (57.1%)	74 (8.5%)	117 (13.4%)	137 (15.7%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	45 (5.1%)	92.5	43^rd of 662 public high schools	93.5%		92.8	54^th of 641 public high schools	91.6%	11	96.4	97.4	82.8	97.7	$9,519	$417	$9,102
Wolfe School	Public	6-12	722 Brewer Drive	Monroe	28112	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 290-1568	109	15	7.1	97.2%	49 (45.0%)	24 (22.0%)	23 (21.1%)	7 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (5.5%)								(n/a)					$27,287	$2,600	$24,687
Weddington High	Public	9-12	4901 Monroe-Weddington Road	Matthews	28104	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-6319	1,899	86	22.1	8.1%	1,207 (63.6%)	127 (6.7%)	162 (8.5%)	328 (17.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	74 (3.9%)	90	76^th of 662 public high schools	88.5%		91.4	64^th of 641 public high schools	90.0%	12	90.0	93.9	85.4	94.3	$7,418	$423	$6,995
Levine Middle College High School	Public	11-12	2800 Campus Ridge Rd	Matthews	28235	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-9437	216	5	43.2	19.4%	118 (54.6%)	23 (10.6%)	31 (14.4%)	36 (16.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.7%)								(n/a)				94.7	$7,540	$287	$7,253
Monroe High	Public	9-12	1501 East Sunset Drive	Monroe	28112	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-3130	1,215	71	17.1	99.7%	65 (5.3%)	318 (26.2%)	792 (65.2%)	10 (0.8%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (2.3%)	15.8	579^th of 662 public high schools	12.5%		14.6	566^th of 641 public high schools	11.7%	13	29.2	38.7	39.0	38.0	$12,060	$1,381	$10,678
Butler High School	Public	9-12	1810 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd	Matthews	28105	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-6300	1,791	98	18.1	50.1%	494 (27.6%)	544 (30.4%)	558 (31.2%)	135 (7.5%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.3%)	53 (3.0%)	58.5	267^th of 662 public high schools	59.7%		55.7	257^th of 641 public high schools	59.9%	10	67.8	65.3	58.6	71.7	$8,714	$431	$8,282
Cuthbertson High	Public	9-12	1400 Cuthbertson Rd	Waxhaw	28173	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-0105	1,857	82	22.7	10.2%	1,324 (71.3%)	112 (6.0%)	175 (9.4%)	171 (9.2%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	70 (3.8%)	85.6	101^st of 662 public high schools	84.7%		87.4	94^th of 641 public high schools	85.3%	7	84.4	93.2	69.4	90.4	$7,116	$416	$6,700

Frequently Asked Questions about Union County Early College

Is Union County Early College a good school?

Yes! Union County Early College is one of the best high schools in the state. It ranks 24^th of 662 North Carolina high schools.

What is the racial makeup of Union County Early College?

Students at Union County Early College are 48% White, 37% Hispanic, 7% African American, 6% Asian, 1% Two or more races.

What district is Union County Early College in?

Union County Public Schools

How many students attend Union County Early College?

In the 2024-25 school year, 340 students attended Union County Early College.

Rate Union County Early College!

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Latest North Carolina data All new data »

2017–18 through 2025–26 attendance data & graduation ratesNewSep 2, 2026

2025–26 EOC & EOG test scoresNewSep 2, 2026

2016–17 through 2024–25 graduation ratesSep 3, 2025

2024–25 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 3, 2025

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.