SREB States Lead the Nation in High School Graduation Rates

Blog post Jeff Gagne

Graduation rates are up again in states across the nation – and SREB states lead the pack once again in data released this week by the United States Department of Education.

Graduation rates climbed in 11 of the 16 SREB states between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years. Ten SREB states tied or exceeded the national rate. Three of the SREB states were on the list of top 10 states: Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas.

The SREB median graduate rate was 85 percent, compared to the U.S. average of 83 percent, for 2014-15. The high school graduation rate for the SREB region as a whole has topped the national average for the last five years.

Why do so many SREB states outperform the national average on this measure?

SREB states have been working on this for a long time – over two decades. Our Challenge to Lead Goals called for states to improve graduation rates and lead the nation back in 2002.

Growth in high school graduation rates since 2002 has been dramatic. Our states should be proud of their efforts. We are!

Jeff Gagne is SREB’s director of policy analysis.

Public High School 4-year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate

 
  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Change
2013-14
to
2014-15
Alabama 72 75 80.0 86.3 85.0 -1.3
Arkansas 81 84 84.9 86.9 84.9 -2.0
Delaware 78 80 80.4 87.0 85.6 -1.4
Florida 71 75 75.6 76.1 77.9 1.8
Georgia 67 70 71.7 72.5 78.8 6.3
Kentucky — — 86.1 87.5 88.0 0.5
Louisiana 71 72 73.5 74.6 77.5 2.9
Maryland 83 84 85.0 86.4 87.0 0.6
Mississippi 75 75 75.5 77.6 75.4 -2.2
North Carolina 78 80 82.5 83.9 85.6 1.7
Oklahoma — — 84.8 82.7 82.5 -0.2
South Carolina 74 75 77.6 80.1 80.3 0.2
Tennessee 86 87 86.3 87.2 87.9 0.7
Texas 86 88 88.0 88.3 89.0 0.7
Virginia 82 83 84.5 85.3 85.7 0.4
West Virginia 78 79 81.4 84.5 86.5 2.0
             
SREB Median 79.0 80.5 82.6 83.9 84.8  
United States Average 79.0 80 81.4 82.3 83.2 0.9