Colorado graduation rates – Colorado Virtual Library

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Graduation season is upon us! Over the past few weekends, high school and college seniors across Colorado have been celebrating their hard-earned degrees. Over 55,000 Colorado high schoolers are anticipated to graduate this year.

Are you curious about Colorado’s most recent graduating classes? The State Publications Library has several resources that contain information about high school and college graduates in our state.

A view of about twenty students facing away from the camera sitting in rows of chairs during a commencement ceremony. The students are wearing black commencement robes. The angle of the photo shows the tops of their decorated graduation caps. — Photo from University of Colorado Boulder

The Colorado Department of Education publishes data on each graduating high school class. These statistics reports are the easiest way to quickly review basic information about each class – the overall graduation rate, the number of graduates, and breakdowns of graduates by school district, race, or gender. Recently, these numbers have reflected the hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic. The graduation rate for the class of 2021 was 81.7%, which was slightly lower than the year before. Looking at long-term trends, however, the four-year high school graduation rate increased by 9% over the past ten years. Older high school graduation reports are available in our digital repository.

There is also plenty of information available about college and university graduates (although it’s less consolidated). Comprehensive basic statistics about graduating classes from four-year public colleges and universities are available in the graduation rate reports published by the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE). Graduation and persistence rates are also available from individual institutions like the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado College, and University of Colorado. Historic student enrollment data and reports from CDHE are available in our catalog.

Do you need help sorting through Colorado’s graduation statistics? Reach out to our librarians at spl@cde.state.co.us for assistance!