Charles J. Colgan Sr. High

Charles J. Colgan Sr. High is one of the high-enrollment four-year high schools in Manassas, Virginia, run under Prince William County Public Schools, with 2,956 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. That puts it 144% larger than the typical public school in Virginia, which averages around 1,213 students.

Charles J. Colgan Sr. High is one of 95 schools operated by Prince William County Public Schools, a district that serves 90,242 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Charles J. Colgan Sr. High shows that 40% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest comes out to 22% Hispanic, 19% Black, 11% Asian, 8% multiracial. That composition is broadly in line with Prince William County as a whole.

On the income-and-resources front, Charles J. Colgan Sr. High shows 170 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 17.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Charles J. Colgan Sr. High higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 29% of students at Charles J. Colgan Sr. High qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is below Prince William County's rate of about 55%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Charles J. Colgan Sr. High performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 80.3%, the actual is 79.6%, a residual of -0.7 points.

In the broader community, census data for Prince William County shows median household earnings sit near $131,402, 45% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Prince William County's 102 public schools (combined enrollment of about 89,591 students), Charles J. Colgan Sr. High is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Louise A. Benton Middle, roughly 0.5 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Charles J. Colgan Sr. High. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Charles J. Colgan Sr. High ranks 6th on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 79.3%.

The school occupies an outlying site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Charles J. Colgan Sr. High has grew 29%, going from 2,283 students in 2018 to 2,956 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 49% to 40% across the same window.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.