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If you could change one rule at Universal Institute CS, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
597
Combined
STATE 1,819
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·UNIVERSAL INSTITUTE CS·NCES 420005500495
Universal Institute CS
800 S 15th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146 · (215) 732-7988 · Philadelphia County
GRADES KG–09COMBINED11-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL597 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 56% of Pennsylvania public K-12 schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Pennsylvania public K-12 schools
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
33 FTE teachers
STATE 15.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
94%
564 students
STATE 75%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other combined schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 65 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 69 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 66 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 64 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 72 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 70 | 12% |
| Grade 6 | 69 | 12% |
| Grade 7 | 59 | 10% |
| Grade 8 | 63 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (65) is about the same size as its 8th grade class (63).
Student demographics
13%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
STATE 59% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
31.4%
PA avg 51.1% . -6.0pp since 2023
Math
19.2%
PA avg 43.0% . +1.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 31 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are down about 6 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 31.4% | 19.2% |
| 2023-24 | 37.4% | 17.8% |
% Proficient or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
28.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.1%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 28% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 37% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Pennsylvania's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Where Universal Institute CS ranks
Among K-12 schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 597 | #2 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 94.5% | #3 of 6 |
Ranked against other public K-12 schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
597
-39 (-6%) vs 2020
+55% since 2000-01, when it was 386
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
was 19.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 597 | 33 | 18.1:1 | 94% (564) |
| 2023-24 | 563 | 32 | 17.6:1 | N/A |
| 2022-23 | 626 | 29 | 21.6:1 | 78% (490) |
| 2020-21 | 636 | 32 | 19.9:1 | 100% (634) |
| 2017-18 | 625 | 33 | 18.9:1 | 76% (476) |
| 2015-16 | 743 | 20 | 37.1:1 | 83% (616) |
| 2010-11 | 647 | 33 | 19.6:1 | 100% (644) |
| 2000-01 | 386 | 19 | 20.3:1 | 0% (0) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Universal Institute CS.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (625 to 597); teachers unchanged (33 to 33).
About Universal Institute CS
Students in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, attend Universal Institute CS, a very small school serving multiple grade levels. The school teaches kindergarten through 9 and enrolls 597 students. The school is 67% below the average for combined schools in Pennsylvania.
Universal Institute CS is its own local education agency in federal data.
Black students account for 93% of the school's enrollment. It is also 5% Hispanic. Philadelphia County's residents are about 39% Black, 54 points below the school's share. A diversity index of 13% means there is a 13% chance two randomly chosen students at Universal Institute CS are from different groups.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 18.1:1. The school has 33 full-time-equivalent teachers. Across combined schools in Pennsylvania, the average ratio is 15.5:1. Federal data show 94% of students (564) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That is in line with the 95% average for public schools in Philadelphia County.
Universal Institute CS earns a B on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 56% of Pennsylvania public K-12 schools.
Test results at Universal Institute CS are 9.0 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (28.1% actual, 37.1% predicted).
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Philadelphia County show that median household income comes to about $61,953, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 35% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 17%. Philadelphia County counts 309 public schools with about 182,005 students.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Creative and Performing Arts, is about 0.2 miles. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 9 closest schools with test data, this one included, Universal Institute CS ranks 8th on average proficiency.
Universal Institute CS is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels City: Large. Universal Institute CS is a publicly funded charter school.
Over 4 years, enrollment fell by 39 students, from 636 to 597. Students per teacher dropped from 19.9 in 2020-21 to 18.1 in 2024-25.
People can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates and other school topics. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Philadelphia County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,579,706
Census ACS
Median income
$61,953
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
17%
Below federal line
Schools in county
309
182,005 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Philadelphia
- Northeast High SchoolHigh · 3,463 students
- Philadelphia Performing Arts CSCombined · 2,572 students
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 2,472 students
- Central High SchoolHigh · 2,329 students
- MaST Community CS IICombined · 1,875 students
- First Philadelphia Preparatory CSCombined · 1,831 students
Nearby schools
- Creative and Performing Arts0.2 mi · 643
- Stanton Edwin M School0.2 mi · 329
- Independence CS0.3 mi · 796
- Academy at Palumbo0.3 mi · 1,225
- Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy0.5 mi · 338
- Christopher Columbus CS0.5 mi · 829
Frequently asked questions
About Universal Institute CSHow many students attend Universal Institute CS?
Universal Institute CS enrolls approximately 597 students in grades KG-09.
Is Universal Institute CS an elementary, middle, or high school?
Universal Institute CS is a combined-grade school covering grades KG-09.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Universal Institute CS?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Universal Institute CS is approximately 18.1:1 (33 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Universal Institute CS?
At Universal Institute CS, the student body is approximately 0% White, 5% Hispanic, 93% Black, 1% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is Universal Institute CS in?
Universal Institute CS is part of Universal Institute CS.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.