The national rankings

The top 25 schools in the America’s Most Challenging High Schools list, as ranked by The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews. For schools that did not provide an average SAT score, out of a possible 1600, the average ACT score, out of a possible 36, appears instead, noted with an (*). A (P) after a school’s name indicates it is a private school. The meals subsidy percentage indicates the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, an indicator of family income and financial need. The updated list takes into account the IDEA charter network’s new data, which pushes three of its schools out of the top 10. For the full updated version, go to washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge.

Rank School Location State Challenge rating Meals subsidy % Average SAT score
1. BASIS Phoenix Phoenix Ariz. 26.25 N/A 1348
2. Mickey Leland College Prep Houston Tex. 21.00 73 942
3. Signature Evansville Ind. 17.25 11 1215
4. BASIS Oro Valley Oro Valley Ariz. 16.79 N/A 1342
5. BASIS Flagstaff Flagstaff Ariz. 15.20 N/A 1318
6. IDEA Frontier College Prep Brownsville Tex. 14.41 87 21.9*
7. American Indian Public Charter Oakland Calif. 14.15 83 1242
8. Keystone (P) San Antonio Tex. 14.00 N/A 1393
9. Stanton College Prep. Jacksonville Fla. 13.92 14 1233
10. IDEA San Juan College Prep San Juan Tex. 12.83 93 20.5*
11. Carnegie Vanguard Houston Tex. 12.54 28.3 1297
12. IDEA Mission College Prep Mission Tex. 12.34 92 20.3*
13. IDEA San Benito College Prep San Benito Tex. 11.67 80 20.2*
14. Uplift North Hills Preparatory Irving Tex. 11.53 20 1201
15. Suncoast Community Riviera Beach Fla. 11.26 38 1189
16. St. Anselm’s Abbey School (P) Washington D.C. 11.15 N/A 1342
17. Jefferson County IB Irondale Ala. 11.08 20 1255
18. Young Women’s College Prep Houston Tex. 11.00 70 893
19. Jose Marti MAST Hialeah Fla. 10.84 77 1084
20. Uplift Summit International Preparatory Arlington Tex. 10.79 69 996
21. IDEA Quest College Prep Edinburg Tex. 10.44 85 21.1*
22. Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts Jacksonville Fla. 10.30 43 1014
23. Pine Crest (P) Fort Lauderdale Fla. 10.17 N/A 1308
24. Boca Raton Community Boca Raton Fla. 9.94 38 31*
25. South Texas Academy for
Medical Professions		 Olmito Tex. 9.88 76 937