Best Public Schools in State College, PA

Summary:

The city of State College, Pennsylvania is home to a robust public school system, with 12 schools serving students from elementary through high school. The district includes State College Area School District, which is ranked 41st out of 606 districts in Pennsylvania and has a 5-star rating, indicating a high level of quality and consistency across the schools.

Several schools in the State College area stand out as top performers, including State College Area High School, which is ranked 14th out of 681 Pennsylvania high schools and has exceptional test scores, a high graduation rate, and a low dropout rate. Park Forest Middle School and Corl Street Elementary School also excel, with 5-star ratings and strong performance on PSSA tests.

However, the data reveals some disparities between the charter and public schools in the area. The two charter schools, Young Scholars of Central PA and Nittany Valley, have notably lower test scores compared to the public schools. Additionally, there appears to be a correlation between higher spending per student and stronger academic performance, with the highest-spending schools tending to have the best results.

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				Keystone Exams Algebra I (2025)	Keystone Exams Biology (2025)	Keystone Exams Literature (2025)	PSSA Math (2025)							PSSA English Language Arts (2025)							Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
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	Keystone Exams Algebra I 11th Grade	Keystone Exams Biology 11th Grade	Keystone Exams Literature 11th Grade	PSSA Math 3rd Grade	PSSA Math 4th Grade	PSSA Math 5th Grade	PSSA Math 6th Grade	PSSA Math 7th Grade	PSSA Math 8th Grade	PSSA Math All Grades	PSSA English Language Arts 3rd Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 4th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 5th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 6th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 7th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts 8th Grade	PSSA English Language Arts All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Centre Learning Community Charter School	Public, Charter	5-8	2643 W College Ave	State College	16801	Centre County	Centre Learning Community Charter School	Yes	No	No	No	(814) 861-7980	67	6	11.1	35.8%	61 (91.0%)	1 (1.5%)	3 (4.5%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	87.4	92^nd of 873 public middle schools	89.5%		78	160^th of 891 public middle schools	82.0%	68						58.3	75.0	35.7	45.5	51.7			58.3	91.7	64.3	73.9	72.2	$22,183	$333	$21,850
Nittany Valley Charter School	Public, Charter	K-6	1612 Norma St	State College	16801	Centre County	Nittany Valley Charter School	Yes	No	No	No	(814) 867-3842	51	7	6.9	21.6%	47 (92.2%)	1 (2.0%)	2 (3.9%)	1 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)										51.8							59.3	$20,155	$274	$19,881
Young Scholars of Central PA Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	1530 Westerly Parkway	State College	16801	Centre County	Young Scholars of Central PA Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(814) 237-9727	321	41	7.8	49.5%	192 (59.8%)	46 (14.3%)	16 (5.0%)	21 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	45 (14.0%)	56.3	725^th of 1511 public elementary schools	52.0%		52.5	830^th of 1526 public elementary schools	45.6%	105				59.5	47.3	19.4	40.0	31.0	52.4	42.6	64.3	52.7	41.9	60.0	58.6	85.7	59.1	$23,472	$942	$22,531
Mount Nittany Middle School	Public	6-8	656 Brandywine Dr	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 466-5133	752	64	11.6	21.8%	572 (76.1%)	24 (3.2%)	36 (4.8%)	60 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	59 (7.8%)	92.6	52^nd of 873 public middle schools	94.0%		89.7	65^th of 891 public middle schools	92.7%	13							65.8	57.4	48.5	57.7				76.7	77.8	70.6	75.2	$25,885	$90	$25,796
Corl Street Elementary School	Public	K-5	235 Corl St	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 231-1185	250	22	11.5	18.0%	192 (76.8%)	2 (0.8%)	11 (4.4%)	32 (12.8%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.8%)	83.1	234^th of 1511 public elementary schools	84.5%		88.4	124^th of 1526 public elementary schools	91.9%	110				69.5	72.2	62.5				67.5	63.8	71.5	68.7				68.0	$23,607	$144	$23,463
Easterly Parkway Elementary School	Public	K-5	234 Easterly Pkwy	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	Yes	(814) 231-1170	314	31	9.9	39.2%	195 (62.1%)	28 (8.9%)	27 (8.6%)	35 (11.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (9.2%)	75.8	358^th of 1511 public elementary schools	76.3%		73	436^th of 1526 public elementary schools	71.4%	78				61.5	66.0	52.6				60.9	61.5	64.3	68.4				64.7	$26,402	$1,457	$24,945
Spring Creek Elementary School	Public	K-5	217 Scholl St	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	Yes	(814) 231-5026	360	26	13.5	21.1%	298 (82.8%)	5 (1.4%)	12 (3.3%)	16 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (8.1%)	83.7	224^th of 1511 public elementary schools	85.2%		88.4	126^th of 1526 public elementary schools	91.7%	98				69.2	74.0	63.9				68.8	69.2	76.0	62.3				68.8	$21,702	$436	$21,266
Mount Nittany Elementary School	Public	K-5	700 Brandywine Drive	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	Yes	(814) 272-5970	413	32	12.7	23.0%	332 (80.4%)	9 (2.2%)	17 (4.1%)	28 (6.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.5%)	84.4	206^th of 1511 public elementary schools	86.4%		81.6	251^st of 1526 public elementary schools	83.6%	45				67.6	69.9	66.6				68.1	69.1	72.6	73.0				71.5	$23,484	$677	$22,807
Radio Park Elementary School	Public	K-5	800 W Cherry Ln	State College	16803	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 231-4115	424	34	12.5	19.3%	253 (59.7%)	12 (2.8%)	18 (4.2%)	97 (22.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	43 (10.1%)	90.4	116^th of 1511 public elementary schools	92.3%		84.3	203^rd of 1526 public elementary schools	86.7%	87				86.1	71.7	64.4				74.9	84.7	76.6	72.9				78.5	$23,150	$144	$23,006
State College Area High School	Public	8-12	650 Westerly Pkwy	State College	16801	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 231-1111	2,402	207	11.5	21.5%	1,821 (75.8%)	72 (3.0%)	131 (5.5%)	187 (7.8%)	6 (0.2%)	3 (0.1%)	182 (7.6%)	96	14^th of 681 public high schools	97.9%		94	25^th of 686 public high schools	96.4%	11	84.5	83.6	88.5															$23,679	$129	$23,550
Park Forest Elementary School	Public	K-5	2181 School Dr	State College	16803	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	Yes	(814) 231-5010	419	31	13.4	18.6%	318 (75.9%)	16 (3.8%)	27 (6.4%)	28 (6.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.9%)	85.1	197^th of 1511 public elementary schools	87.0%		87.4	144^th of 1526 public elementary schools	90.6%	53				77.8	72.6	65.8				71.6	67.7	64.4	71.8				68.0	$21,761	$685	$21,076
Park Forest Middle School	Public	6-8	2180 School Dr	State College	16803	Centre County	State College Area School District	No	No	No	No	(814) 272-8217	822	63	13.1	15.1%	643 (78.2%)	13 (1.6%)	21 (2.6%)	85 (10.3%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	56 (6.8%)	94.8	37^th of 873 public middle schools	95.8%		93.7	39^th of 891 public middle schools	95.6%	2							62.8	57.8	61.8	60.9				81.6	79.4	76.4	79.2	$23,661	$89	$23,571

Cities Near State College

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Pine Grove Mills	4.95 mi	1	19^th
Port Matilda	5.93 mi	2	223^rd
Bellefonte	6.94 mi	5	215^th
Pleasant Gap	7.27 mi	2	177^th
Centre Hall	8.85 mi	1	53^rd

See the top PA Pennsylvania cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

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.