Why does DESE calculate graduation rates?
DESE calculates and reports graduation rates as part of overall efforts to improve educational outcomes for all students. Reporting graduation rates is required by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
Since 2006, DESE has had enough student-level data from the state's Student Information Management System (SIMS) to track an individual class from the initial entrance into 9th grade through to graduation.
How is the four-year cohort graduation rate calculated?
To calculate the four-year cohort graduation rate, the DESE tracks a cohort of students from grade 9 through high school graduation and then divides the number of students who graduate within four years by the total number in the cohort. In other words, the rate represents the percentage of the cohort that graduates in four years or less. For example, the formula for the 2024 cohort is:
# of students in the cohort who graduate in 4 years or less[# of first-time entering 9th graders in 2020-21] − transfers out + transfers in
Rates are generated for the entire student population and for individual student groups at the state-, district-, and school-level.
What about students who take longer than four years to graduate?
DESE understands that many students need longer than four years to graduate from high school, and that it is important to recognize the accomplishment regardless of the time it takes. Therefore, DESE also publishes a five-year graduation rate, which represents the percentage of the cohort that graduates in five years or less.
The five-year rate for the 2023 cohort is calculated as:
# of students in the cohort who graduate in 5 years or less[# of first-time entering 9th graders in 2019-20] − transfers out + transfers in
Are graduation rates disaggregated by student groups?
Graduation rates are reported for all students in a district or school, as well as for the following student populations: High Needs students, English Learners, Students with Disabilities, students from low income families, students in foster care, and students experiencing homelessness. Rates are also reported for each of the student race/ethnicity and gender groups.
A student is included in the High Needs, English Learners, Students with Disabilities, Low Income, Foster Care, and/or Homeless student group(s) if the student was reported in that group in at least one SIMS report over the course of their high school career. A different approach must be taken with the race/ethnicity student groups. In cases where a student's reported race/ethnicity changes during high school, the student is included according to their last reported category.
How are students assigned to cohorts?
Students are assigned to cohorts based on when they first enter grades 9 through 12 in a Massachusetts public school system. Once a student is assigned a particular cohort year , the student's cohort never changes.
How are out-placed students included?
Publicly funded students placed in collaboratives and private special education schools are included in their sending district rates.
How are dropout students in grades 9 through 12 counted?
Students who drop out remain in the school and district cohort.
If the student re-enrolls in another school after dropping out, the student is included in the original school and district cohort as a dropout and as enrolled in the new school and district cohort.
How are transfers counted?
Students who transfer from one school to another within the same district are not included in the original school cohort, but are included in the second school cohort.
Students who transfer from one district to another district are not counted in the original school and district cohort, but are counted in the second school and district cohort. For example, a student from Pinecone High School in Evergreen District transfers to Acorn High School in Oak District. That student will be counted in the Oak District data, and not in the Evergreen District data.
There is no cut-off date for transfers into a school in the four-year graduation rate. For example, a student who transfers into a high school in May of their 12th grade year is counted in that school's graduation rate.
What is DESE's adjusted cohort graduation rate?
To better understand how schools and districts are doing with students that remain in the same school or district for all grades 9 through 12, DESE also publishes an "adjusted" graduation rate. DESE's adjusted graduation rate includes only those students who were in the original cohort and did not leave the cohort. It does not include students who transferred into the school or district after October 1 of their 9th-grade year.
What happens to students who are retained in their grade?
The student's cohort does not change when they are retained in grade. Therefore, the student does not count as a graduate in the four-year rate, but could be counted in the rate-year rate for that cohort.
Students who are retained in a high school grade before transferring are counted in the second school and district cohort, but not as a four-year graduate. For example, if a student repeats grade 9 in school X and then moves to school Y in another district at the start of grade 10 and graduates three years later, the student is counted in the denominator for school Y but not in the numerator for the four-year graduation rate. The student is counted in the numerator for the five-year graduation rate.
How are summer graduates included in the graduation rate calculations?
Summer graduates are included as if they graduated in the Summer, before the start of the next school year.
What if I have additional questions?
If you have any additional questions about DESE's graduation rate data, please email data@mass.gov .
Last Updated: April 9, 2025