Graduation rates in Kansas have increased over the past 10 years according to new data from the U.S. Department of Education. This includes major student groups that have historically lagged behind. Kansas exceeds the national average in each student category. For both Kansas and the nation, the gap between the average for all students and rate for subgroups has been narrowing.

Defining Graduation Rate

In 2022, Kansas had a high school graduation rate of 88.0 percent. The rate is derived from a formula used nationally called the adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR). It tracks the percentage of public high school freshmen who graduate with a regular diploma within four years. It also counts those earning a state-defined alternate high school diploma for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The cohort is adjusted as students transfer in or out, move to another country, or die. This rate does not include students who graduate more than four years after ninth grade or earn an equivalent credential, so measures including high school completion by adults are several points higher.

The 2022 Kansas graduation rate of 88.0 percent is above the national average of 86.6 percent. Kansas is up 2.0 percent from the rate of 86.0 percent in 2013. Kansas dropped from 10th to 17th in its ranking among the 50 states even though its rate is improving. This is due to the national average increasing at slightly faster rate.
The results come at a time when completing high school has never been more important for getting and keeping a job. Each step in education, on average, results in higher earnings, more secure employment, and less poverty.

In the 1970’s, about two-thirds of jobs required only a high school diploma or less. Today, an estimated 90 percent of jobs require at least a high school education and about two-thirds require more than a high school diploma. That is one reason the Kansas State Board of Education has made raising the graduation rate a key outcome in its Kansans Can vision and new school accreditation system. 

How School Leaders are Raising Graduation Rates

KASB identified school districts that exceed expectations for high school graduation rates and improvement based on the percentage of disadvantaged students they enroll. Asked how districts are getting higher results, school leaders reported several common strategies.

• A strong commitment to helping students and their families with career planning and counseling, so students see more relevance of high school courses to their future goals.
• Expanding opportunities for students to take career and technical education courses and concurrent enrollment college courses, have hands-on work-related experiences, and earn industry recognized certificates while in school.
• Provide rapid intervention for students who are experiencing academic or behavioral problems before they fall too far behind in course credits.
• Allow students to have a greater voice in school goals, culture, and decisions.
• Maximize opportunities for students to participate in arts, sports, organizations, and community service and activities.
• Commit all staff members to strengthening relations between students, parents, and educators, so every student feels a connection to one or more adults in the school.
• Increase counseling and mental health services to help students and parents deal with their challenges.
• To support all of the above, strengthen partnerships with families, local and area colleges, employers, health providers, and other community organizations.

Subgroups are Making Progress 

Within the overall graduation rates there are typically differences among certain groups based on circumstances. These include students with disadvantages of poverty, having to learn English as new language, or having a disability.

Although these groups in Kansas have lower graduation rates than the overall rate, these groups do better in Kansas than in most states. The state’s overall graduation rate of 88.0 percent in 2022 was 1.4 percent above U.S. The rate of economically disadvantaged students (those qualifying for free or reduced-price meals) was 83.1 percent in Kansas, 1.8 percent higher than the U.S average. The Kansas rate for English Language Learners (ELL) was 85.3 percent, 13.2 percent higher than the national average. For students with disabilities the Kansas rate was 81.3 percent, 10.3 percent higher than the U.S. average.

In 2022, Kansas’ overall graduation rate ranked 17th in the nation, a drop from 10th in 2013 but up from 19th in 2020. The Kansas low-income student graduation rate was 12th in the nation, a slight improvement from 13th in 2013 but a big jump from 19th in 2020. The two other Kansas student groups ranked in the top five of all states. English Language Learners ranked third in 2022 compared to fifth in 2013. Kansas students with disabilities ranked fifth in 2022 compared with third in 2013.

Differences in graduation rates by groups is nothing new. Nearly 50 years ago in 1975, 65.8 percent of white Americans 25 and older had completed high school, compared to 42.6 of Blacks and 38.5 percent of Hispanics. Since that time, the rates have improved and narrowed. In 2022, 95.2 percent of whites, 90.5 percent of Blacks and 75.2 percent of Hispanics had completed high school.

Graduation rates for disadvantaged students have been improving faster than the overall average. In Kansas the overall rate increased by two percent from 2013 to 2022, but low-income students increased by 6.5 percent, ELL students by 10.3 percent and students with disabilities by 3.5 percent.

The improvements have occurred as schools are educating more disadvantaged students. In Kansas, low income students increased from 33.4 percent in 2001 to 48.1 percent in 2023 (Digest Table 204.10). Students with disabilities increased from 13.8 percent in 2011 to 16.0 percent in 2022 (Digest Tables 203.2 and 204.70). ELL students declined slightly from 9.7 percent in 2012 to 8.9 percent in 2022 (Digest Table 204.20). Similar trends have occurred in other states.

Long-Term Trends

The ACGR formula has only been used since 2011. Going back to 1970, national reports used a slightly different formula called the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR). The 1970 national AFGR rate reported by the U.S. Digest of Education Statistics, Table 219.10, showed 78.7 percent of students graduated high school, or about 8 percent less than the 2022 cohort rate.

Prior to 1970, the Digest reports total national graduates as a percentage or ratio of the 17-year-old population in a given year. Going back 100 years before the first AFGR, in 1870 high school graduates were just 2.0 percent of 17-year-olds. That percentage increased steadily to 8.8 percent in 1910, 29 percent in 1930, 50.9 percent in 1940 and nearly 70 percent in 1960 and approaching 80 percent in 1970.

After 1970, however, both the freshman graduation rate and graduates as a percentage of 17-year-olds dipped and then leveled off, remaining below 75 percent for almost 30 years until 2009. The national ACGR began at 79.9 percent in 2011 and has increased to 86.6 percent in 2022. For that same year, the number of graduates nationally divided by the total number of 17-year-olds was 86.9 percent

The rising graduation rate has led to similar increases in overall adult educational attainment. According to the Digest, Table 104.10, in 1910, just 13.5 percent of Americans 25 and older had completed high school or more. By 1970, it was 55.2 percent, reaching 75.6 percent in 1987, exceeding 90 percent in 2019, and a record 91.4 percent in 2023. More people completing high school opened the door to more college completion. The percentage of Americans over 24 with a bachelor’s degree or higher rose from 2.7 percent in 2010 to 11.0 percent in 1970, 20.3 percent in 1988, 30.4 percent in 2011 and reaching 38.3 in 2023.