Public High School Graduation Rate Reaches New High, but Gaps Persist

The national graduation rate for public high school students rose to a new high of 83.2 percent in 2014-15, according to data released yesterday by the National Center for Education Statistics. This adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR) measures the percentage of students who graduate with a regular high school diploma within four years of starting 9th grade. The ACGR has risen by about four percentage points since the data were first collected in 2010-11.

The data released today show that between 2010-11 and 2014-15, graduation rates increased for all reported groups of students, including all racial and ethnic subgroups, low-income students, English learners, and students with disabilities. However, graduation rate gaps persist among the racial and ethnic subgroups.

Among the highlights of the data are:

•    In 2014-15, graduation rates were higher for Asian/Pacific Islander (90.2 percent) and White (87.6 percent) students than for Hispanic (77.8 percent), Black (74.6 percent), and American Indian/Alaska Native (71.6 percent) students;

•    Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, the gap in graduation rates between White and Black students narrowed from 17 to 13 percentage points, while the gap between White and Hispanic students narrowed from 13 to 10 percentage points. In that same time period, the graduation rate gap between White and American Indian/Alaska Native students narrowed from 19 to 16 percentage points; and

•    From 2010-11 to 2014-15, the ACGR has increased 6 percentage points to 76.1 percent for low-income students; has increased 8 percentage points to 65.1 percent for English Learners; and has increased 6 percentage points to 64.6 percent for students with disabilities.