PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Oregon Department of Education released last year’s graduation information for high school students on Thursday.
Oregon historically has among the lowest graduation rates in the nation year to year — a troubling statistic that the ODE has said they are working to resurrect. According to the latest numbers, the state seems to be on the right track.
In 2021, there were over 560,000 students and over 75,000 educators across 197 districts in Oregon.
Out of those students, 80.6% graduated on time — the second-highest graduation rate ODE has ever reported. Meanwhile, the 5-year completion rate is the highest ever reported, coming in at a whopping 87.7%.
However, ODE says graduation rates declined in every student group, such as migrant students and those with disabilities from 2020, which was the highest they’ve ever reported at about 82.6%. That rate has steadily increased over the last eight years.
Before the pandemic, if a student didn’t attend school for 10 days in a row they were considered a dropout. That rule was suspended due to COVID-19, and drop-out rates fell from 2.38% to 1.81%.