2022 High School Graduation Rate Improves for the First Time Since 2019

The lat­est data from the 2021–2022 school year show that the nation reached a his­toric high of 87% of high school stu­dents grad­u­at­ing on time, after hold­ing steady at 86% since 2018–2019. This is a note­wor­thy achieve­ment as stu­dents across the coun­try con­tin­ue to recov­er from pan­dem­ic dis­rup­tions in edu­ca­tion and dai­ly life.

High school grad­u­a­tion rates are a key indi­ca­tor of youth well-being. Stu­dents who grad­u­ate from high school are more like­ly to pur­sue post­sec­ondary edu­ca­tion and train­ing and have bet­ter long-term employ­ment and health prospects than those who do not graduate.

U.S. grad­u­a­tion rates have been steadi­ly improv­ing for years. Specif­i­cal­ly, new­ly updat­ed data from the KIDS COUNT Data Cen­ter show that 13% of U.S. high school stu­dents did not grad­u­ate on time in 2021–2022 — an improve­ment of 5 per­cent­age points from 2013–2014, the ear­li­est year available.

All Racial and Eth­nic Groups Made High School Grad­u­a­tion Gains in the Last Decade

Time­ly grad­u­a­tion rates improved for all racial and eth­nic groups from 2013–2014 to 2021–2022, with some demon­strat­ing sub­stan­tial progress. How­ev­er, racial inequities in edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties and out­comes remain a seri­ous prob­lem, and dis­par­i­ties in grad­u­a­tion rates have not nar­rowed over the last nine years.

Key trends by racial and eth­nic group:

• Amer­i­can Indi­an and Alas­ka Native stu­dents: Almost three in four (74%) grad­u­at­ed on time in 2021–22, the same fig­ure as the pre­vi­ous year and a 4‑per­­cen­t­age-point improve­ment over 2013–2014. Despite this progress, Amer­i­can Indi­an and Alas­ka Native stu­dents still face more hur­dles to on-time grad­u­a­tion than their peers of oth­er racial and eth­nic backgrounds.
• Black stu­dents: Over four in five (81%) achieved time­ly grad­u­a­tion in 2021–2022, up by 1 per­cent­age point from 2020–2021 and 9 per­cent­age points over 2013–2014.This was the largest improve­ment of any racial or eth­nic group in this period.
• Lati­no stu­dents: Sim­i­lar­ly, rates increased from 82% to 83% in 2021–2022, and they rose by 7 per­cent­age points since 2013–2014.
  
• White stu­dents: Time­ly grad­u­a­tion rates held steady at 90% in 2021–2022 and increased by 3 per­cent­age points since 2013–2014.
• Asian and Pacif­ic Islander stu­dents: Rates improved from 93% to 94% in 2021–2022, rep­re­sent­ing a 5‑per­­cen­t­age-point jump from eight years ago. How­ev­er, when edu­ca­tion data are dis­ag­gre­gat­ed by spe­cif­ic Asian Amer­i­can and Native Hawai­ian and Pacif­ic Islander groups, large dis­par­i­ties emerge as these are wide­ly het­ero­ge­neous populations.

High School Grad­u­a­tion Rates Also Vary at the State Level

In 2021–2022, rates ranged from just over three-quar­ters of stu­dents grad­u­at­ing on time in New Mex­i­co (76%) and Ari­zona (77%) to more than nine in ten (91%) in West Vir­ginia. Eigh­teen states exceed­ed the nation­al rate (87%) that year. Look­ing at progress since 2013–2014, the vast major­i­ty of states and D.C. demon­strat­ed improve­ments over this time­frame, although just 17 states and D.C. made gains from 2020–2021 to 2021–2022.

Future Out­look on Grad­u­a­tion Rates

The COVID-19 pan­dem­ic led to school clo­sures, vir­tu­al instruc­tion and increased social iso­la­tion, caus­ing con­cerns about stu­dent learn­ing loss and declines in school con­nec­tion. While some indi­ca­tors bear out these con­cerns with drops in stu­dent read­ing and math pro­fi­cien­cy, and a spike in chron­ic absen­teeism, 2022 high school grad­u­a­tion rates sig­nal promis­ing signs of ear­ly pan­dem­ic recov­ery. Data by race and eth­nic­i­ty, though, show endur­ing edu­ca­tion­al inequities for stu­dents of col­or, par­tic­u­lar­ly for Amer­i­can Indi­an or Alas­ka Native stu­dents. To address inequities and ensure a full recov­ery from the pan­dem­ic, schools and com­mu­ni­ties can strength­en part­ner­ships on com­pre­hen­sive approach­es to sup­port stu­dent suc­cess, espe­cial­ly for vul­ner­a­ble stu­dents. This includes bol­ster­ing sys­tems in and out­side of schools to address diverse stu­dent needs, from edu­ca­tion and fam­i­ly needs to emo­tion­al and phys­i­cal health issues.

Access More Infor­ma­tion Relat­ed to High School Graduation

• Prepar­ing High School Stu­dents for Careers Dur­ing and After the Pan­dem­ic, 2023
• Explore the Foundation’s edu­ca­tion­al resources
• See all edu­ca­tion data on the KIDS COUNT Data Center
• Vis­it Johns Hop­kins University’s Every­one Grad­u­ates Center

High school grad­u­a­tion rates are also tracked in the KIDS COUNT Index, which is report­ed annu­al­ly in the KIDS COUNT Data Book.

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