Time to turn the tassel: How many Triangle seniors graduate this year?
Last year, more than 13,000 Wake County high school students received their diploma.
How many will walk across the commencement stage in the coming days?
Based on the latest state data available, about nine in ten, though this year could be different.
Wake school officials acknowledged earlier this year that this year’s four-year cohort graduation rate could be lower due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
One in six high school freshmen in Wake County and across North Carolina weren’t promoted to the 10th grade after the end of the 2020-21 school year, when high school freshmen took most or all of their classes online because of COVID-19 pandemic health concerns.
Official graduation numbers measuring that impact won’t be available until the beginning of the next school year.
But each year since 2015, at least 86% of Wake County high school seniors have graduated in four years. Last year’s class had a graduation rate of 89.9%. The statewide rate was 86.5%.
Rates by race and gender
In 2023, Wake County Asian students had the highest four-year graduation rate with more than 95% (the state masks rates more than 95 and below 5). The statewide rate for Asians was 94.7%
White students had a rate of 95%; Black students, 87.2%; and Hispanic students, 77.7%. The statewide rate for white students was 89.9%; Black students, 84%; and Hispanic students, 81.1%.
Female students graduated at a four-year rate of 92.2%, almost 5% points higher than male students at 87.6%. The statewide rate for female students was 89.2%; for male students, 83.9%.
How have other Triangle school districts fared?
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools graduated almost 1,000 students in 2023 with a four-year rate of 94.8%, the third highest in the state.
Durham County Schools, with 2,760 graduates, had a rate of 84.3%; Johnston County, 3,131 graduates, 91.6%; and Orange County, 621 graduates, 87.8%.
Search our database below for graduation rates since 2006 for all Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake County high schools. The source for the data is the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
This story was originally published June 3, 2024 at 5:30 AM.