(The Center Square) – Wisconsin saw 91.1% of its high school students graduate on time in the 2023-24 school year, according to a new report from the Department of Public Instruction.
That marked the highest number since DPI began reporting that data in its current format in 2009-10.
“This achievement reflects the hard work and commitment of Wisconsin’s students and teachers,” State Superintendent Jill Underly said. “It’s the result of countless hours, determination, and the strength of our community. This success shows what we can achieve when we work together. Moving forward, we must continue to build on this momentum and ensure every student is set up for success beyond graduation.”
The state saw its chronic absenteeism drop to 17.7% for the 2023-24 school year while attendance rates climbed to 92.4%, the lowest and highest marks for the state since 2020-21.
Chronic absenteeism is when a student misses 10% or more of classes in a given year.
The numbers were part of the annual new data release on DPI’s WISEdash public portal, with information on school districts across the state.
“Although we should celebrate our successes, we should all continue to be concerned about – and work to reduce – the disparities in graduation rates between different groups of students,” Underly said. “The reality is that students of color and other marginalized students are not doing as well, although those cohorts are also seeing some improvement. We need to double-down on making investments for those kids who need it the most.”
There were 805,881 public school students between K-12 in the state in the September 2024 count.
The data can be downloaded in a report card format for public schools and districts across the state with data from 2011-12 to 2023-24.
