20 years of growing graduation rates in the United States (but more work left to do)

By Ashley Grant, Johns Hopkins University

Graduation rates are arguably the most important educational outcome from a national standpoint. A report from GradNation Campaign — a partnership of CIVIC and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University — chronicles the past 20 years of concerted efforts to raise the US graduation rate from 70% to 90%. Although efforts fell short of the goal by 115,000 students (with an 86.5% graduation rate in 2020), huge progress was made, with more progress on average for students from minoritized and high-risk groups. Additionally, 10 states reached the 90% benchmark. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic led to some downturns in graduation rates for the class of 2021.

GradNation also investigated the reasons behind these trends. They identified a small population of low-graduation-rate high schools that produced a third of non-graduates and therefore  need more targeted assistance. Additionally, they identified that course failures are a major stumbling block and current course recovery efforts are not succeeding. They also analyzed multiple metrics of secondary schools to show that the increased graduation rates were not simply due to a lowering of standards.

Finally, this report looks forward to the next steps for ensuring quality secondary education and outcomes in the United States. They particularly recommend a focus on the transition after high school graduation – both the need to gather and systematize data on these outcomes and to provide greater guidance and support to students.