About FCPS and Fast Facts

The Frederick County Public School (FCPS) District’s mission is to inspire, innovate & motivate. FCPS serves more than 45,000 students and 280,000 residents in twelve municipalities spread across 667 square miles. FCPS provides a diverse and inclusive learning environment, where excellence in college and career preparedness are paramount. The commitment to our community is to provide exceptional education and equity for "every child, every day".

Frederick County students consistently outpace their state and national peers in academic achievement measures. Students in our class of 2022 received $52.8 million in scholarship offers. FCPS’s Class of 2020 graduation rate was 93.73% (compared to Maryland's 87.20% average), while our dropout rate was 2.61% (compared with the state's 7.36%). We balance top-rate academics with the personal caring and individual attention you would expect in a small-town community. Frederick County's investment in public education is an investment in our future. Our operating budget for FY2023 is $822,836,251 with nearly 45% of our funding coming from local county government.

Together, FCPS and our community are working to realize the increased academic achievement of ALL students, closing the gap between the highest and lowest performing students while providing an equitable learning environment for all.

Frederick County Public Schools Fast Facts Infographic

Data for number of schools, student numbers and demographics, and benefitted staffing totals.

Notable Numbers

  • FCPS achievements exceed Maryland averages with scores that consistently surpass national averages on the College Board SAT. With a 95% participation rate (up from 64% the year before), our mean 2021 SAT score was 1,099, compared to Maryland's 1,056 and the nation's 1,038.
  • On a 1-5 star scale, 50 of our 58 state-rated schools achieved 4 or 5 stars, and none received fewer than 3.
  • FCPS’s Class of 2020 graduation rate was a high 92.4% (compared to Maryland's 86.8% average), while our dropout rate was 4.0% (compared with the state's 8.3%).
  • Students in our class of 2021 received $62 million in scholarship offers. [Not all were accepted, as some students received more than one offer.]

Students & Staff

  • 2022 enrollment is was 47,000 students.
  • Based on official Sept 30, 2022 enrollment data, the FCPS student demographics are: 50.4% White; 20.6% Hispanic/Latino; 14.4% Black or African American; 7.4% Asian; 6.9% 2 or more races; less than 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native and Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian.
  • In the 2022-23 school year, over 15,000 students (32.9%) are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, about 5,200 (11.1%) receive Special Education services, and English is not the primary language for over 3,400 (7.3%).
  • Of over 7,500 employees, more than 3,000 are teachers, over 1,400 work is Special Education, more than 250 are counselors or psychologists and over 400 are paraprofessionals. The remainder are bus drivers, food service workers, custodians, media specialists, office staff and other central office support and administrative staff.