Graduation rate in Montgomery Co. Public Schools rises to 91%

The graduation rate for Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland’s largest school district, is up over last year and higher than the state average, according to the state’s department of education.

The four-year graduation rate for MCPS’ class of 2021 rose to 91.4%, 2.1 percentage points higher than the year before.

That’s higher than the state average of 87.2% percent, according to Maryland State Department of Education data.



MCPS said its graduation rate jumped 11.6% for students identified as Limited English Proficient in the class of 2021 over the previous year and 14.6% since the class of 2019.

The graduation rate for Hispanic/Latino students rose to 82.5%, a one-year increase of 5.4 percentage points, MCPS said.

Increases in graduation rates were seen for all student groups, the county school system said, except “the cohort of Black or African American students, whose rate remained relatively stable as the previous year experienced a decrease of 0.3 percent.”

“While we celebrate these gains, we will not be satisfied until all of our students graduate college, career and community ready, and prepared to thrive in their futures,” interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight said in a news release.

Montgomery County has 209 schools. The school system has a diverse student body: 33% of students are Hispanic; 25% are white; 22% are Black; 14% are Asian; and 5% are multiracial.

Neighboring Prince George’s County Public Schools saw its four-year adjusted rate boost as well, by 1.5 percentage points to 77.6%.

Graduation statistics for nearby counties are below.

  • Anne Arundel County: 90.25%
  • Baltimore City: 69.2%
  • Baltimore County: 86.2%
  • Calvert County: 94.74%
  • Carroll County: 94.99%
  • Charles County: 93.58%
  • Frederick County: 93.73%
  • Howard County: 94.05%

Matt Small

Matt joined WTOP News at the start of 2020, after contributing to Washington’s top news outlet as an Associated Press journalist for nearly 18 years.

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