Overview

School District Students Banks 1,083 Beaverton 32,024 Forest Grove 5,015 Gaston 575 Hillsboro 17,484 Sherwood 2,850 Tigard Tualatin 11,145 Total 70,176

Seven public school districts serve Washington County: Banks, Forest Grove, Gaston, Tigard-Tualatin, Hillsboro, Sherwood and Beaverton. They serve a combined total student population of 70,176. Another 7,583 students in the county attend private K through 12 educational institutions, the second highest private school enrollment by a county in Oregon.

From 1980 to 1990 the overall educational level of Washington County residents increased markedly. The most significant educational increase was in residents attaining college degrees, associate’s degrees and above, which increased 12 percent between 1980 and 1990, representing, in part, a shift from the proportion of those with only a high school or lower level of education. New data, which is calculated every ten years, will be available from the 2000 census. These rates are significantly higher than for the state as a whole. Other trends over the last decade include:

• Eighth-grade reading level scores have decreased slightly (by one percent)
• Eighth-grade math scores have increased slightly
• Third-grade reading level scores have remained constant
• Third-grade math scores have increased by 5%

Nine colleges meet higher education needs in the county. Portland Community College offers a variety of Associate’s Degrees and serves Washington County through both the Sylvania and Rock Creek campuses. A variety of programs are offered by Oregon State University, Portland State University, Pacific University, Oregon Center for Advanced Technology Education, Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology and Oregon College of Art and Craft.

Educational Levels, 1980 and 1990, Washington County and Oregon

Educational Level	Percentage of Population
	Washington County		Oregon
	1980	1990	1980	1990
Below 9th Grade	7%	4%	---	16.2%
Some High School	8%	8%
High School Grad.	34%	23%	---	61%
Some College	25%	27%
College Degree	26%	38%	---	23%

Source: US Census

Source: US Census Source: US Census

Washington County schools have experienced a decrease in dropout rates every year since 1994-1995. In the 1997-1998 school year, Washington County dropout rates dipped below statewide dropout rates.

Year	Washington County	State
1993-1994	6.70	6.63
1994-1995	7.68	7.37
1995-1996	7.32	7.23
1996-1997	6.99	6.70
1997-1998	6.63	6.88

Source: Washington County Statistical Snapshot

Source: Washington County Statistical Snapshot

Head Start programs serve 366 three and four-year olds in Washington County. In 1998, 1,579 children were eligible for Head Start, leaving 77 percent of eligible children without the benefit of the service.

In 1999, 15,153 students were eligible for free or reduced lunch programs in Washington County schools. In April 2000, the percentage of students who applied and were eligible for free or reduced lunch and breakfast programs compared with other counties of similar size was:

County	Percentage of students eligible for free or reduced lunch and breakfast
Clackamas	24.57%
Multnomah	42.42%
Washington	24.10%

Source: Washington County Statistical Snapshot