Fast Facts

High school graduation rates

Question:
What information do you have on public high school graduation rates?

Response:

This Fast Fact examines the averaged freshman graduation rate (AFGR), an estimate of the on-time 4-year graduation rate derived from aggregate student enrollment data and graduate counts. In school year 2012–13, the national AFGR was 82 percent, and some 3.2 million public high school students graduated with a regular diploma. The overall AFGR was higher for the graduating class of 2012–13 than for the class of 1990–91 (74 percent). However, from 1990–91 to 1995–96 the rate decreased from 74 to 71 percent. During the period from 1998–99 to 2004–05, the rate steadily increased from 71 to 75 percent. After dropping to 73 percent in 2005–06, the rate increased to 82 percent in 2012–13.

Averaged freshman graduation rate (AFGR) for public high school students: School years 1990–91 through 2012–13

The data in this figure is described in the surrounding text. /

NOTE:The AFGR provides an estimate of the percentage of high school students who graduate within 4 years of first starting 9th grade. The rate uses aggregate student enrollment data to estimate the size of an incoming freshman class and aggregate counts of diplomas awarded 4 years later.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2016). The Condition of Education 2016 (NCES 2016-144), Public High School Graduation Rates.

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