INDIANAPOLIS – The class of 2024 represents the highest state graduation rate on record, with data showing 90.23% of Indiana students graduating high school. This is up from 88.98% in 2023.
“Over the past year, we have celebrated a number of successes in K-12 education, and there is urgency to continue this positive momentum for Indiana students,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “As a state, we have seen literacy rates increase for the third consecutive year, chronic absenteeism rates improve for the second year in a row, and today, the highest state graduation rate on record. Thanks to the collaboration of educators, families and communities, these represent just a few examples of the improved student outcomes we are seeing across the state. Together, we must continue to keep our foot on the gas pedal in 2025, ensuring we keep improving our education system in Indiana and increasing opportunities for students.”
A spreadsheet with statewide, corporation- and school-level graduation data is available here. Below are some of the key areas of success from this year’s graduation data:
- 2024 represents the highest graduation rate since Indiana began publishing data.
- The state’s second highest graduation rate was in 2014 at 90.06%.
- Statewide, graduation rates increased for:
- Black students – from 82.43% in 2023 to 83.88% in 2024 (1.45 percentage point increase);
- Hispanic students – from 86.41% in 2023 to 87.83% in 2024 (1.42 percentage point increase);
- White students – from 90.73% in 2023 to 91.89% in 2024 (1.16 percentage point increase);
- English learners – from 87.72% in 2023 to 89.48% in 2024 (1.76 percentage point increase);
- Students in special education – from 83.24% in 2023 to 85.30% in 2024 (2.06 percentage point increase); and
- Students receiving free and reduced price meals – from 88.74% in 2023 to 91.52% in 2024 (2.78 percentage point increase).
- The non-waiver graduation rate improved from 84.92% in 2023 to 87.53% in 2024, which is a 2.61 percentage point improvement. Per Indiana Code (IC) 20-32-4-4.1, to qualify for a waiver, a student will have been unsuccessful in completing postsecondary-readiness competency requirements by the conclusion of his/her senior year. This includes:
- A student who was in the process of completing a competency at one school that was not offered by the school to which the student transferred; and
- A student who has attempted to achieve at least three separate postsecondary-readiness competencies.
Due to differences between federal and state accountability equations and standards, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) also released 2024 federal graduation rates. In 2024, Indiana’s federal graduation rate was 88.67%, up from 87.52% in 2023.
| Federal Graduation Rate | State Graduation Rate | Honors Diploma (Academic, Technical, or IB) | Non-Waiver Rate | |
| 2024 | 88.67% | 90.23% | 37.81% | 87.53% |
| 2023 | 87.52% | 88.98% | 31.13% | 84.92% |
| 2022 | 85.12% | 86.61% | 38.71% | 80.58% |
| 2021 | 85.75% | 86.69% | 39.6% | 78.78% |
| 2020 | 87.0%* | 87.69%* | 40.3%* | N/A** |
| 2019 | 86.4% | 87.29% | 39.8% | 76.73% |
*Graduation rates in 2020 reflect the State Board of Education’s waiver of the Graduation Qualifying Exam requirement for the 2020 cohort, which could not be administered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this waiver, caution should be exercised when comparing graduation rates to rates in 2020.
**Since the Graduation Qualifying Exam requirement was waived for students graduating in 2020, there is no non-waiver rate for that year.
(Indiana Department of Education press release)
