Cyber Academy of South Carolina, Greenville SC

Original Research by School Decision on Cyber Academy of South Carolina

Cyber Academy of South Carolina is a statewide public charter school serving kindergarten through twelfth grade, operating under the Charter Institute at Erskine. It is a full-time virtual school, which is the central fact any family considering it needs to understand. The school has no physical campus where students attend daily; instruction and coursework are delivered online. This makes it a fundamentally different option from any brick-and-mortar school in Greenville, where its administrative office is located.

The student body is large for a virtual school and spans the full K-12 range. Enrollment is fairly balanced across elementary, middle, and high school grades. The demographic composition is majority white, with Black students making up about three in ten of the student body and Hispanic students roughly one in twelve. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a marker that the school serves many households with lower incomes. The school is a regular public charter and operates without admissions testing; any South Carolina resident may enroll, subject to capacity.

On state assessments, the academic picture is mixed and worth examining carefully. In English language arts, proficiency rates across grades three through eight consistently land near the midpoint, with roughly half of students meeting the state standard in each grade. This is a solid result for a virtual school, where maintaining engagement in reading and writing can be a challenge. In math, however, the story is different. Proficiency rates are low across every tested grade, and the pattern is consistent: in no grade does the share of students meeting the math standard reach one in four, and in several grades it is closer to one in six. A family considering this school should want to understand what math support and instruction look like day to day, and whether the virtual format is a good fit for their child in that subject. Science results, available for grades four and six, also run below the halfway mark. The school did not have recent social studies data reported.

Because the school serves all grades through twelfth, a graduation rate would normally be available, but it was not present in the data reviewed. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its four-year graduation rate and college or career outcomes. Chronically absenteeism data was also not available, which is a gap worth noting given that student attendance and daily log-in consistency are especially relevant in a virtual setting.

The school operates under the Charter Institute at Erskine, a statewide charter authorizer that oversees more than two dozen charter schools across South Carolina. Publicly reported information indicates that the Institute underwent a limited review by the state’s Legislative Audit Council in 2025, which examined the authorizer’s oversight and operations. The Institute has continued to grow, adding new schools over time. What this means for the Cyber Academy is a matter of governance stability; families may want to keep an eye on any changes in how the Institute oversees its schools.

The housing and community context is the one for the broader Greenville area, since this is a virtual school drawing students from across the state, not a neighborhood school. Greenville itself is a growing city with a walkable downtown, a strong employment base anchored by manufacturing, healthcare, and energy companies, and a rising housing market. Home values in the area are above the national average, and the rental market is active. For families who live in Greenville proper, these are the conditions they know. For families elsewhere in South Carolina, the relevant local housing and community context will be their own.

This school fits a family that wants or needs a full-time virtual education for their child, for whatever reason: health, travel, learning preference, or dissatisfaction with a local brick-and-mortar option. The English language arts results give some reassurance that the virtual format can work for that subject. The math results, however, raise a real question about whether the school is currently serving students well in that area, and a parent should probe what the school offers for math intervention, live tutoring, or small-group support. The school’s size and statewide reach mean that the peer environment is whatever a family’s child finds in their virtual classes; it is not a neighborhood cohort. Overall, Cyber Academy of South Carolina offers a viable online pathway through all grades, but its academic record in math should give a pause and prompt direct questions before enrolling.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

77.0%Cohort of 344 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

241 schools plotted. 4 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 41% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

Grade 419%

School 19% · District 36% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 30% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 30% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 713%

School 13% · District 29% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 816%

School 16% · District 25% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 57% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 56% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 58% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 60% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 61% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 60% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Science

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 47% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 56% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 53% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

This schoolCharter Institute at Erskine, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income44%Higher-income68%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income53%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income64%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income59%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income66%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income48%Higher-income61%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income24%Higher-income26%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income18%Higher-income20%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income11%Higher-income29%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income20%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income10%Higher-income23%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income14%Higher-income19%5 pp gap