(Des Moines, IA) -- Iowa's high school graduation rate slipped nearly percentage points during the pandemic.
State data show 90.2 percent of students in the Class of 2021 graduated within four years, down from 91.8 percent for the Class of 2020.
Since 2011, Iowa’s four-year graduation rate climbed 1.9 percentage points overall, with large long-term gains in nearly every student demographic subgroup.
“After many years of steady progress, this slight decline follows the first full school year disrupted by the pandemic,” said Ann Lebo, director of the Iowa Department of Education. “Students transitioned between learning models while facing a multitude of challenges during the 2020-21 school year. Our focus is on the success of all students and I am proud of the work that our school partners are doing to accelerate learning and to continue to support the individual needs of their students.”
Jay Pennington, of the Iowa Department of Education's Bureau of Information and Analysis says there was a drop in the four-year graduation rate and an increase in the five-year graduation rate.
Iowa’s five-year graduation rate — which reflects students who were part of a graduating class but took an extra year to finish high school — was 93.5 percent for the Class of 2020, down slightly from 93.8 percent for the Class of 2019.
Iowa’s annual dropout rate reflects the percent of students in grades 9-12 who drop out of school during a single year. The annual dropout rate was 2.85 percent for the 2020-21 school year. The state’s 2020-21 dropout rate represents 4,332 students in grades 9 through 12.