Idaho’s 2022 four-year high school graduation rate fell slightly to 79.9% — a number that’s held relatively steady since 2016, with the exception of a 2020, pandemic-era boost.
All told, more than 18,000 teens graduated on time from Idaho’s public schools last year — and about 4,500 did not.
Every year, the graduation rate falls farther and farther behind the state’s ever-increasing graduation rate targets.
| Class | Four-year grad rate | State grad rate goals | NCES national grad rate averages |
| 2015 | 78.9% | Not available | Not available |
| 2016 | 79.7% | (baseline year) | Not available |
| 2017 | 79.7% | 82.2% | 85% |
| 2018 | 80.6% | 84.8% | 85% |
| 2019 | 80.7% | 87.3% | 86% |
| 2020 | 82.1% | 89.9% | 86.5% |
| 2021 | 80.1% | 92.4% | Not available |
| 2022 | 79.9% | 94.9% | Not available |
Data source: State Department of Education
The State Board of Education is extending the 2022 graduation rate goal of 95% to 2023 “due to disruptions related to COVID-19,” according to Idaho’s consolidated plan.
To read more about grad rate goals, go to page 14 of this document.
Idaho is behind national graduation rate averages as well.
The National Center for Education Statistics’ most recent data on graduation rates, published in December, shows that in 2019-2020, the national average was 86.5%. (The NCES is especially careful with its data, so its information releases are always delayed by a few years).
That year, Idaho’s average was 82.1% — more than four percentage points behind.
And, according to NCES, that was at least the fourth consecutive year that Idaho’s graduation rates were below the national average.
In 2020 — when there was a graduation rate boost — certain graduation requirements were waived, like the senior project and college entrance exams. Teachers may also have been more lenient with schoolwork and grading as they extended grace to students who were thrust into remote learning due to Covid-19.
Grad rates at the top and bottom, and at Idaho’s largest districts and charters
Overall, 15 local education agencies or LEAs (which include traditional school districts and charter schools) had perfect graduation rates of 100%. However, most of those LEAs had cohorts (students tracked from 9th to 12th grade) of 30 or fewer.
At the other end of the scale, 15 LEAs had a graduation rate of less than 65%, with cohort sizes ranging from 2 to more than 400. Most of those were charter or nontraditional LEAs.
Another way to consider the data is by looking at Idaho’s largest LEAs, according to EdNews’ most recent enrollment numbers.
Here’s a look at grad rates among Idaho’s five largest traditional school districts:
| District | Graduation rate | |
| Pocatello | 89.6% | |
| Bonneville | 88.3% | |
| West Ada | 84.5% | |
| Boise | 83.3% | |
| Nampa | 75.5% |
Data source: State Department of Education
And here are grad rates for Idaho’s five largest charters:
| Charter | Graduation Rate | |
| Compass Charter | 100% | |
| Idaho Arts Charter | 69.4% | |
| Sage International | 83.3% | |
| Inspire Academics, Inc. | 82.4% | |
| Idaho Virtual Academy | 51.9% |
Data source: State Department of Education
To see how your district or charter did, go here.
Demographically, troubling gaps persist when it comes to graduation rates
At-risk students are less likely to graduate, the 2022 data shows.
Students who are economically disadvantaged, with disabilities, in foster care, experiencing homelessness, English learners, or migratory had graduation rates below the state average. The same was true for students who are American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, two or more races, or male.
The State Board has also established graduation rate goals as determined by demographics, setting higher goals for some groups than others. In each case, students have fallen behind the goals.
| Student group | 2022 graduation rate | 2022 state goal |
| Asian or Pacific Islander | 85.4% | 95.8% |
| White | 81.9% | 95.3% |
| State average | 79.9% | 94.9% |
| Two or more races | 76.5% | 94.3% |
| American Indian or Alaskan Native | 73.4% | 89.6% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 73% | 93.4% |
| Native Hawaiian/Other pacific Islander | 71.6% | 92.4% |
| Economically disadvantaged | 69.6% | 93% |
| Black/African American | 69.1% | 94.5% |
| English learners | 65.4% | 93.3% |
| Students with disabilities | 56.6% | 90.1% |
For a complete list of high school graduation rates by demographics, go here.
Four-year vs. five-year graduation rates
The data in this article is based on four-year graduation rates. That means students are tracked from 9th through 12th grades, so those who drop out before senior year are accounted for in final tallies.
Some, including former State Superintendent Sherri Ybarra, have argued that five-year graduation rates are a more accurate indicator of Idaho students’ success. In a 2022 opinion column for EdNews, Ybarra wrote that that’s especially true for Idaho’s demographic groups “that face special challenges.”
“Five-year graduation rates for each of those groups were at least 3 percentage points higher than their four-year rates,” she wrote.
Four-year data does leave out students who needed a few extra credits or classes, and graduated just a few months after their peers. Those students may have been catching up for a number of reasons, such as an extended illness, a death in the family, complications caused by the pandemic, or other extenuating circumstances.
EdNews profiled one such student, Phoenix Johansen, who overcame great odds to graduate last summer — just a month after peers. Johansen’s accomplishment is one of many not reflected in the 2022 four-year graduation rate.
Here’s a look at five-year graduation rates over the years, which had shown slow but steady improvement until 2021, when the rate dipped by nearly two percentage points.
| Year | Five-year graduation rate | State goal for five-year graduation rate |
| 2017 | 82% | Baseline year |
| 2018 | 82.8% | 84.7% |
| 2019 | 83.3% | 87.4% |
| 2020 | 84.1% | 90.1% |
| 2021 | 82.3% | 92.8% |
| 2022 | Not yet available | 95.5% |
More reading: What happens after students graduate — how many go on to college? During the pandemic, go-on rates for high-performing demographics dipped. Read more here.
EdNews’ Data Analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report.
