Statewide high school graduation rates on the rise

High school graduations in the Columbia Public School District begin Friday.

The graduation rate in Missouri has increased every year since at least 2012. Some of the school districts in mid-Missouri have seen an increase as well.

Peter Stiepleman, the Columbia Public School District’s superintendent, said at a meeting May 10 that the graduation rate for the 2016-17 school year has increased from the previous year.

The graduation rate of Columbia public schools for the 2011-12 school year was 84.8 percent; 2012-13 was 85.7 percent; 2013-14 was 90.1 percent; 2014-15 was 90.2 percent; and 2015-16 school year was 90.2 percent.

With the exception of the 2011-12 school year, the graduation rate for Columbia public schools was higher than the state’s graduation rate.

The graduation rate of Columbia public schools for this school year is not yet available.

Graduation rates of the Jefferson City Public School District have been inconsistent. For the 2011-12 school year, the graduation rate was 83.2 percent; 2012-13 was 82.6 percent; 2013-14 was 83.9 percent; 2014-15 was 81.2 percent; and 2015-16 was 85.5 percent.

Missouri’s Department of Secondary Education collects data of what high school graduates do after graduation.

The online data shows that the percentage of Columbia public school graduates and Jefferson City public school graduates going to college has decreased since at least 2012.

The percentage of Jefferson City public school graduates going into the workforce immediately after high school has increased.