D.C. has reported its highest graduation rate in over a decade, a feat that school leaders attribute to expanded course offerings and an emphasis on cracking down on absenteeism.
In the 2024-25 school year, D.C.’s graduation rate was 78.7%, according to city data — a 2.6% increase in the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate compared to the year prior. Using that formula, the cohort of students who entered a school as first-time ninth graders is tracked for four years to calculate the number of individuals who graduated with a regular diploma.
Since the 2010-11 academic year, D.C.’s four-year graduation rate increased more than 18 percentage points.
“These numbers really are an indication that we’re moving in the right direction, and we’re just going to double down on the things that we’ve been doing to ensure that we are continuing to increase the graduation rate even more,” said Antoinette Mitchell, superintendent for the District’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
The progress, Mitchell said, is the result of new courses that have students eager to attend class.
The city has increased dual enrollment opportunities, so more students are taking college level classes, and there are more Advanced Placement courses available. Students who are enrolled in AP classes and pass an exam at the end of the school year could receive college credit for the course.
“We’ve really ramped up our career and technical education offerings in the city,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got kids taking courses in graphic design and architecture and engineering, health sciences.”
Kids enrolled in career and technical education programs graduate at higher rates, Mitchell said.
At D.C.’s Advanced Technical Centers, students from across the city can take classes in topics such as the health sciences or cybersecurity.
D.C. has just received new recommendations from a math task force and aims to ensure students are prepared for post-secondary education, Mitchell said.
“All of these things are designed to really ensure that students across the city, regardless of their ZIP code, have a high school and school experience that taps into their interests, and sets them up nicely for post-secondary success,” Mitchell said.
In a statement, Mayor Muriel Bowser said residents and taxpayers “have been serious about investing in our public schools for nearly two decades. And we didn’t just invest in fantastic facilities, we also invested in fantastic people and programming. And because of those investments and those improvements, we’re seeing strong results — from our student achievement data to our graduation rates.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
