Clover High School ranked 52nd in South Carolina in the U.S. News and World Report Best High Schools rankings released Tuesday, down 11 spots from its placement in the previous edition.
The school posted a 94 percent graduation rate and a college readiness index score of 18.2. Enrollment in grades 9 through 12 was 2,713, making Clover High the largest single high school campus in York County.
The college readiness figure is the one to watch. U.S. News weights it more heavily than any other factor in its formula, and it measures a narrow thing: how many students sit for Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams and how many of them pass.
How the rankings were built
U.S. News evaluated around 27,000 public high schools nationally this year and ranked nearly 18,000 of them. Schools were scored on six indicators, including performance on state required assessments, graduation rates, how well schools serve underserved students, the breadth of college level coursework offered and results on AP and IB exams.
The company worked with the research firm RTI International on the methodology and drew on data from the 2023 and 2024 academic year. The underlying numbers came from the College Board, the International Baccalaureate organization and state education agencies. Parent surveys, reputation scores and teacher ratings played no part.
The evaluation pool grew by roughly 3,000 schools from last year, which complicates any direct comparison of national placements across editions. Aiken Scholars Academy ranked first in South Carolina.
The full South Carolina list and the Clover High School profile are posted at usnews.com.
Source line: Reporting based on the U.S. News and World Report Best High Schools rankings released Aug. 18, 2026, the Clover High School profile page, and the U.S. News announcement distributed the same day.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
