High School Completion by Income

About this Indicator

Graduation rates are based on the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma. The completion gap is measured by graduation rates among low-income students who qualify for free- or reduced- price lunch and “higher”-income students who were not eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program. Higher income is defined as any level of income that did not qualify the student for free or reduced-price lunch. Family  income at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level qualifies students for free lunch, and family income between 130 and 185 percent of the federal poverty level qualifies students for reduced-price lunch.[1]

The four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate is defined as “the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma divided by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class. From the beginning of 9th grade (or the earliest high school grade), students who are entering that grade for the first time from a cohort that is ‘adjusted’ by adding any students who subsequently transfer into the cohort and subtracting any students who subsequently transfer out, emigrate to another country, or die” (U.S. Department of Education, 2012).

Data Source

U.S. Department of Education. ED data express: ACGR.

Note. Midwest benchmark reflects proportion. Data for higher-income students were not available in 2010-11. The estimates for 2020 and 2021 are not reported due to data collection problems that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.