Dive Brief:
- Nebraska is one of just 13 states that tracks graduation rates for students beyond the standard four years, finding that gaps between students of different racial/ethnic groups and income levels narrow significantly in the extended years.
- At the seven-year mark, white students and racial minorities had a much smaller graduation rate gap than at four in the Lincoln Public Schools, and low-income students saw their graduation rate jump from 78% to 96%, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
- The 2010 GradNation campaign recommends measuring graduation rates through these out years in an effort to raise the high school graduation rate to 90% by 2020.
Dive Insight:
At the college level, it is supposed to take students four years to graduate with their degrees, but the standard graduation rate calculator gives students six years to finish. In many states, students have the right to continue their free high school educations until they turn 21 — though in Montana and Oregon, the maximum age limit for free education is 19. In Texas, it’s 26. Should measuring an extended-year graduation rate catch on, high schools may be motivated to better serve students who would otherwise drop out or barely graduate, better preparing them for college, ensuring they have truly mastered educational subject areas and perhaps even giving them additional opportunities for internships.
At the college level, there have been complaints about encouraging a six-year graduation timeline with the rate reporting, given that it costs students significantly more to stay an extra two years. The federal government has begun encouraging students to stay on track to graduate in four years. At the high school level, however, where it’s free for students, these concerns may not be as prevalent.