A total of 81% of the Colorado Class of 2019 graduated last spring, the highest graduation rate in nine years, according to data released this week by the Colorado Department of Education.
The Class of 2019 had 999 more graduates than the Class of 2018 – a 0.4 percentage point increase. Colorado’s high school graduation rate has improved by a total of nearly 9 percentage points since 2010, when the state changed how the rate was reported. Extended year rates for students taking five, six and seven years to graduate also have steadily improved.
“It is gratifying to see the graduation rates continue to increase and dropout rates continue to fall across the state,” said Colorado Education Commissioner Katy Anthes. “Students understand the value of completing high school. By giving students expanded high school options and implementing rigorous and useful graduation guidelines, Colorado’s school districts are determined to ensure that all students can be ready for college or living-wage jobs when they graduate.”
The high school dropout rate in Archuleta County has hovered around 1% in recent years.
State dropout rate improves to an all-time low
The state’s 2018-19 overall dropout rate is 2.0%, an improvement of 0.2 percentage points from the previous year. In total, the state saw 9,277 students in grades seven through 12 drop out last year – 903 fewer students from the previous year. More minority students are graduating within four years. The four-year graduation rate for minority students for 2018-19 was 75.5%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the previous year. The overall dropout rate for males was 2.3% and the female rate was 1.7%.
Multiple pathways
Apprenticeships, internships and concurrent enrollment classes are examples of ways that Colorado high school students can earn college credit or obtain a postsecondary credential while still in high school. These programs bridge the gap between education and career, increase the relevancy of high school and open a wide variety of options after high school, including meaningful careers and college. Nearly all of Colorado’s school districts offered more than one pathway in the 2018-19 school year with 149 of the state’s 178 school districts offering three or more pathways.
These pathways and others are graduation requirements that school districts can adopt as options for students to demonstrate what they know or can do in order to graduate from high school under state law. The Class of 2021 will be the first cohort of students who will be required under state law to meet or exceed the Colorado Graduation Guidelines.
The state has created programs to help provide additional postsecondary and workforce opportunities for students while in high school, including ASCENT and P-TECH. State policy now allows school districts to count students participating in ASCENT and P-TECH programs as graduates in the year that they complete all local graduation requirements, and that has contributed to the increasing graduation rate. This policy took effect last school year, resulting in a 0.8 percentage point increase in the graduation rate for both the Class of 2018 and the Class of 2019.
The ASCENT program allows eligible students to remain enrolled in their districts for one additional year while completing classes at a local institution of higher education. P-TECH programs allow schools to partner with an employer in a high-growth industry for six years and for students to earn an industry-recognized associate degree as well as a high school diploma.
Giving students more time
Colorado promotes keeping students in high school who need more time to meet graduation requirements or who are participating in their high school’s postsecondary program to earn college credit. In Colorado, students may remain enrolled beyond their fourth year of high school to graduate in five, six or seven years after entering ninth grade.
CDE has created interactive tools and maps to better illustrate how dropout rates look across the state. Dropout statistics are available on this webpage.
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