Michigan's Statewide Graduation Rate Hits 80 Percent

Graduation rate increases 0.53 percent, dropout rate

declines

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: February 21, 2018
Contact: Lauren Leeds, 517-284-4144
Lansing – More than 80 percent of Michigan’s high school students graduated
last year, according to data released today by the Michigan Center for
Educational Performance and Information (CEPI).
The 2016-17 school year graduation rate increased slightly to 80.18 percent, up
0.53 percent from 79.65 percent in 2015-16. The dropout rate fell slightly to 8.65
percent for the 2016-17 school year, down .26 percent from the 2015-16 rate of
8.91 percent.
Five of the 10 school districts with the most high school students in the cohort
class of 2017 (1,200 to 3,230 students) improved their graduation rates. In order
of class size, their rates are:

• Detroit Public Schools Community District: 78.22 percent;

• Utica Community Schools: 93 percent;
• Plymouth-Canton Community Schools: 89.47 percent;
• Dearborn City School District: 94.69 percent;
• Ann Arbor Public Schools: 89.66 percent;
• Chippewa Valley Schools: 92.25 percent;
• Rochester Community School District: 96.05 percent;
• Warren Consolidated Schools: 84.51 percent;
• Walled Lake Consolidated Schools: 93.17 percent; and
• Livonia Public School District: 92.28 percent.
Below is the statewide four-year trend for on-time, four-year graduation and
dropout rates:
2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
4-Year Graduation
78.58% 79.79% 79.65% 80.18%
Rate
4-Year Dropout Rate 9.61% 9.12% 8.91% 8.65%

“This is the first time the statewide four-year graduation rate has surpassed 80
percent since we started calculating rates by cohorts eleven years ago,” said
CEPI Director Tom Howell. “This increase is in line with how the statewide
graduation rate has been trending gradually upward.”
CEPI calculates graduation rates by tracking individual student enrollment
records from the time they first enroll as ninth-graders. This method, along with
concerted efforts by CEPI, school administrators and intermediate school district
auditors to account for every student, results in an accurate measure of a
school’s success in preparing students for college and careers.
Four-year “on-time” graduation rates are a school accountability measure
adopted by the state, and the methodology for calculating rates is aligned with
the National Governors Association Graduation Counts Compact.
CEPI also reports graduation rates for students who remain in high school five
and six years. Both the 5-year and 6-year graduation rates are relatively
unchanged from 2015-16 at 82.76 percent and 83.56 percent respectively.
“An 80 percent statewide graduation rate is a new watermark for our schools.
They’ve worked hard to steadily improve,” said State Superintendent Brian
Whiston. “This is another important step in helping Michigan become a Top 10
education state in 10 years. We aren’t there yet, so we need to keep working and
moving forward.”
Graduation and dropout rates can be found on CEPI’s MI School Data
website(www.mischooldata.org). Under the site’s K-12th Grade Student Counts
section, visitors can select a school or district or compare one district to another.
User-selected settings permit exploring 4-year, 5-year, and 6-year graduation
rates by gender, race or ethnicity, or by demographic categories such as
economically disadvantaged, English language learners, homeless, migrant, and
students with disabilities.
CEPI is a division of the State Budget Office. It facilitates the collection,
management and reporting of public education data required by state and federal
law. MI School Data is Michigan's official education data portal to help citizens,
educators and policymakers make informed decisions that can lead to improved
success for our students.