Oregon schools remained stable with their graduation rates for the 2023 cohort, tying their second-highest-ever high school graduation rate.
The Oregon Department of Education publicly released its annual graduation data report Thursday. Statewide, 81.3% of 2023 high school graduates graduated in four years, tied with the results from 2022 and second highest only to the 2020 cohort, which had a graduation rate of 82.6%.
“This class of 2023, which entered school in the fall of 2019, were in ninth grade when the pandemic hit, and so they’ve endured the full, multi-year impact of the pandemic on their learning,” said Jon Wiens, ODE’s director of reporting, accountability and data.
Oregon has calculated the rates since 2008. Pre-pandemic, Oregon’s graduation rate had been increasing for about eight years.
While 2023’s nearly all-time-high rate is promising, ODE officials said they still had work to do. When asked about whether this stability is good or bad, ODE Director Charlene Williams said amidst the disruption to education, new initiatives played a role in getting students to finish strong.