State’s education report shows 0.5% decrease in graduation rate

We’re now getting a better look at how the COVID-19 pandemic affected students in Minnesota.

Wednesday morning, the Minnesota Department of Education released the state’s four-year graduation rate for the class of 2021, saying 83.3% of high school seniors (equaling 57,137 students) graduated, a decrease of 0.5% from the 83.8% of seniors who graduated in 2020.

According to the state, the small decrease in the graduation rate was driven by a 0.3% increase in the dropout rate, as well as an increase in the 0.2% of the unknown rate.

The class of 2021 was the first to have a full school year affected by the pandemic. Students across the country began having virtual classes in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began, causing the class of 2020 to have the majority of the school year held in person, but the end of the K-12 learning experience was completed at home.

Districts nationwide then varied with learning methods for the start of the 2020-2021 school year, with some adjusting learning methods, or giving families options for how they wanted their child to learn, whether it was in person, virtual, or a hybrid of the two methods.

State education officials report the four-year graduation rate trended upward during the past four years, and rose from 82.5% for the class of 2016 through the class of 2020’s percentage. Officials went on to say dropout rates have decreased.

The state adds 3,594 students who earned their diplomas in 2021 graduated five, six or seven years after starting high school.

CLICK HERE to find graduation data for student groups, as well as graduation rates for state, district, school and county graduation rates. You will need to choose “Graduation Rate” in the category field, and in the Year, Subcategory and Level fields, select the information you want, and the click List Files to look at the spreadsheet.