17 Minnesota High Schools Make Newsweek’s Top 500

Newsweek’s list of the best public high schools in the country for 2016 is out — and it’s an important list if you care about local-school quality and want to know where Minnesota schools rank.

Last year, ten Minnesota schools made Newsweek's top 500, and one cracked the top 100. Edina High School ranked as the best school in Minnesota and ranked 71 nationally in 2015.

This year, the number of Minnesota schools on the list grew considerable. 17 Minnesota schools made the top 500, and two are ranked in the top 100 in the nation. Orono High School joins Edina High School as one of the best schools in the country, according to Newsweek.

Below is the list of all 17 Minnesota schools that made the list and their respective national ranking:

86 Edina High School, Edina
89 Orono High School, Long Lake
109 Eagan High School, Eagan
123 Minnetonka High School, Minnetonka
171 Mahtomedi High School, Mahtomedi
183 Eden Prairie High School, Eden Prairie
197 Prior Lake High School, Savage
240 Chanhassen High School, Chanhassen
255 Lakeville South High School, Lakeville
369 Delano High School, Delano
390 Lakeville North High School, Lakeville
426 Byron High School, Byron
427 Rosemount Senior High School, Rosemount
445 Irondale High School, New Brighton
446 Apple Valley High School, Apple Valley
470 Eastview High School, Apple Valley
491 Stillwater Area High School, Stillwater

So, how did Newsweek come up with the rankings?

Newsweek looked at six measurements and weighted them to achieve a "college readiness index." The rankings show how well high schools prepare students for college.

Those measurements and their weight are:

Holding power: 10 percent
Ratio of counselor/full-time equivalent to student enrollment: 10 percent
Weighted SAT/ACT: 17.5 percent
Weighted AP/IB/dual enrollment composite: 17.5 percent
Graduation rate: 20 percent
College enrollment rate: 25 percent

Beating the odds

For the "beating the odds" rankings, a school’s college readiness scores were adjusted for how they compared against other schools with similar percentages of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. The following Minnesota schools made the cut:

137 Eagan High School, Eagan
153 Irondale High School, New Brighton
167 Edina High School, Edina
212 Apple Valley High School, Apple Valley
215 Eden Prairie High School, Eden Prairie
235 Minnetonka High School, Minnetonka
240 Robbinsdale Cooper High School, New Hope
275 Mahtomedi High School, Mahtomedi
294 Tracy Area High School, Tracy
315 Tri-County Schools, Karlstad
322 Hopkins High School, Minnetonka
362 Chanhassen High School, Chanhassen
381 Community of Peace Academy, Saint Paul
392 Eastview High School, Apple Valley
412 Rosemount Senior High School, Rosemount
416 Ubah Medical Academy, Hopkins
454 St Anthony Village High School, Saint Anthony
475 Brainerd High School, Brainerd

See Newsweek’s full rankings here.