CHAPEL HILL – Colleges looking at students from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district soon may not be able to see where that student finished in his or her class.

Executive director of community relations with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Jeff Nash, says the emphasis placed on class rank drives students to take less engaging classes, like a study hall, over foreign language or art or career technical education classes because these classes are not weighed as heavily.

“They’ll rather take study hall because it doesn’t hurt their GPA. Even if they make an A in their woodworking class and their friend takes an extra AP class, they’re going to lose in their class rank battle,” Nash said. “It’s really a twisted kind of system.”

Nash says the schools in the area don’t want to eliminate reporting class rank overall, but merely want the reporting to be optional.

“We did ask for a waver from the state board last year. They did not grant that and they said that it would require legislative action, so we would love to see legislation, if not next year, soon,” Nash said.

According to Nash, 40 to 60 percent of high schools in the United States do not report class rank on transcripts.

“We’re getting a lot of students obviously from out of state coming to our state universities. They do have a system in place for deciding whether to admit students or not admit students without having these class ranks,” Nash said.

Steve Farmer, admissions director at UNC-Chapel Hill, says the university has considered class rank less and less in the past ten years.

“We’ve learned how to do our work without paying as much attention to class rank as we did,” Farmer said.

Farmer says that class rank ultimately does not affect an undergraduate’s chances to get into UNC.

“I don’t think any school systems should worry that dropping class rank will make it harder for their kids to get into school,” Farmer said. “I also don’t think that any school systems should drop class rank because they think dropping class rank will make it easier for their kids to get into school.”

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro district has begun petitioning the state Board of Education to make reporting class rank optional.

Related Stories
‹
Glenwood Elementary School Parents on Their Concerns, the District's Presentation and Local Reaction to Closure – On Air Today (July 27, 2026)
Glenwood Elementary School parents Yehua Wei, Kayan Cheung-Miaw and Alex Jackson speak with 97.9 The Hill's Brighton McConnell on Monday, July 27.
The Morning News: Rani Dasi to County Commissioner, Mandarin Dual Language at CHCCS
In today's news: CHCCS board member Rani Dasi is nominated for an open seat on the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
Glenwood Elementary Parents Urge School Board to Keep Programs Together as Relocation Conversations Begin
The CHCCS school board gathered to hear options for rehousing the acclaimed Mandarin program as Glenwood Elementary School prepares to close.
Patrick Greene Named as Next Principal of Chapel Hill High School
The CHCCS Board of Education has confirmed the appointment of Patrick Greene as the next principal of Chapel Hill High School.
Local Officials React To Orange County Commissioner Jamezetta Bedford's Death
Jamezetta Bedford — a longtime elected official in Orange County — died on Sunday. Here's what local officials had to say following the news.
'We're in Crisis': CHCCS Board of Education Approves Plan to Limit Classroom Screen Time
When it comes to screen time, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is trying to have better guardrails in the classroom.
Here’s What You Need to Know Before CHCCS, Orange County High Schools’ 2026 Graduations
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools will celebrate its high school graduates across three days this weekend. 
With Closure Decision Made, CHCCS Leaders and Glenwood Elementary Community Try to Move Forward
Thursday’s vote by the CHCCS Board of Education ended months of speculation of which of three elementary schools may be discontinued.
Here's What CHCCS Board Members Said About Decision to Close Glenwood Elementary
Most CHCCS Board of Education members shared comments about their reasoning for the conclusion and unanimous vote to close Glenwood.
The Morning News: Glenwood Elementary Closing, Orange County Finalizes Budget, UNC Baseball Hosts Super Regional
In today's news: the CHCCS school board votes to shut down Glenwood Elementary after the upcoming school year.
›