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Colorado’s high school graduation rate, continuing its climb, rose to 85.6% for the class of 2025, the highest in more than a decade, according to state data released Tuesday.
That number represents the percentage of students who graduated within four years of starting high school. The 2025 four-year graduation rate was 1.4 percentage points higher than in 2024 and 4.5 points higher than in 2019, before the pandemic.
Graduation rates have been rising nationwide in recent years.
Meanwhile, Colorado’s dropout rate has fallen to a historic low: just 1.6% for the class of 2025, down from 1.9% in 2024. The previous statewide low was 1.8%.
In Colorado, students must complete both state and school district requirements to graduate. The district ones vary, with some districts requiring more credits than others and requiring students to take certain courses, such as health or fine arts, or complete community service.
At the state level, new graduation requirements went into effect in 2022. Those requirements offer students a menu of 11 options to show proficiency in reading, writing, and math.
The options include passing a standardized test such as the SAT or ACT, scoring at least a 2 out of 5 on an Advanced Placement exam, passing a college-level course, earning an industry certificate, or completing a capstone project.
The improvements in graduation and dropout rates in 2025 were nearly universal across students of all races, those from low-income families, multilingual students, and students with disabilities. But big gaps remain. For instance, 90% of white students graduated within four years in 2025, compared with 80.6% of Black students and 80.2% of Hispanic students.
Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova called the rates “encouraging progress.”
“We also have work to do to continue closing gaps for students of color, students with special needs, students experiencing homelessness, economically disadvantaged students, and multilingual learners,” Córdova said in a statement.
Graduation rates held steady or increased in nearly 70% of districts, according to the Colorado Department of Education. The rate rose 2 percentage points to 81.9% in Colorado’s largest district, the 90,000-student Denver Public Schools system. Graduation rates also went up in the Jeffco, Aurora, Adams 14, Adams 12, Cherry Creek, Mapleton, and Westminster districts.
Many of the districts where graduation rates declined, including 2,400-student Englewood and 3,400-student Fort Morgan, have fewer students overall. The largest district to see a drop in its graduation rate was 20,000-student District 51 in Grand Junction.
Look up your school or district’s graduation and dropout rate below.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
