(The Center Square) – Florida’s high school graduation rate increased by 1.7% to a record 89.7% in the 2023-24 school year, the state Department of Education says.
The previous high of 86.9% was set in the 2018-19 school year. Only the COVID-19 years of 2019-20 and 2020-21 – when graduating classes were exempted from statewide standardized testing requirements required by state law – were higher.
The increase was 2.4% over the 2021-22 school year.
“Florida leads the nation in education because we put education over indoctrination, empower parents, and have made school choice universal,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a release. “This record graduation rate is a prime metric of our success, in addition to our number one in the nation rating.”
By cohort, every racial group showed improvements, with Black students up 2.1 percentage points compared to last year and 3.3 percentage points since 2021-22.
For Hispanic students, their numbers increased by 2.2 percentage points from the prior year and 3.1 percentage points over 2021-22.
Students with disabilities had a gain of 1.3 percentage points over last year and 3.3 percentage points from 2021-22.
Those in economic distress rose 2.4 percentage points over last year and 3.1 percentage points from 2021-22, while the increase for English language learners had the biggest jump, improving 4.6 percentage points over last year and 7.7 percentage points since 2021-22.
The calculation of Florida’s graduation rate has changed in the past 50 years, going from a division of standard diplomas by the fall ninth-grade membership four years prior to a system that counts only standard diploma recipients as graduates and does not allow for the transfers to adult education programs to be removed.
The lowest graduation rate was in the 1998-99 school year when only 52% of high school seniors received a diploma.
“Florida’s graduation rate continues to climb,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said in a release. “Florida is number one for education because of our commitment to providing a quality education that fits the needs of each student, and our climbing graduation rate is proof positive that our approach is working.
“Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, Florida will continue to lead the nation in educational success.”