For the first time in five years, New Hampshire came in at the top of the class for on-time graduation: 88 percent of students graduated high school in four years. Vermont had held that title previously.
That’s the reportfrom the New England Secondary School Consortium, which consists of five New England States: Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NESSC released its latest high school graduation and college enrollment data last week.
Deputy Education Commissioner Paul Leather says New Hampshire’s improvements are no coincidence. They came about because of a 2007 law that raised the dropout age from 16 to 18: “We have been working hard with all of our schools and districts to increase graduation rates, especially graduation on-time,” says Leather.
New Hampshire also graduated the highest percentage of students with disabilities, and made gains in college enrollment and college readiness.
Vermont kept its lead graduation rates within six years – and graduated the most students from low-income families.