Colorado sees highest graduation rates, lowest dropout rates in over a decade. For rural districts, it’s a mixed bag.

Colorado’s graduation rate is at an all-time high thanks to the most recent numbers for the 2024-25 school year.

The state’s four-year graduation rate increased by 1.4 percentage points since the 2023-24 school year to 85.6% — the highest in over a decade — according to data released Tuesday by the Colorado Department of Education. This comes after years of steady increases for four-year graduation rates since 2010, with the exception of 2021.

Statewide, nearly 70% of school districts improved or stayed the same in their four-year graduation rates, resulting in 2,000 more students graduating compared to the year prior.

For some school districts in Colorado’s mountain towns, graduation rates are even higher. Several districts across Summit, Garfield, Grand, Pitkin and Routt counties posted graduation rates higher than the statewide average, with Aspen School District leading the pack at a 97.9% graduation rate for the 2024-25 school year compared to its 97.1% rate the year prior.

Whether or not these higher graduation rates are an improvement from the previous year is a mixed bag. The South Routt school district, despite its higher-than-average 94.4% graduation rate, fell 3.6 percentage points compared to the 2023-24 school year.

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Students in Colorado can take up to seven years to graduate high school. This year, five-, six- and seven-year graduation rates also improved, with the latter climbing to 87.6%.

Dropout rate lowest in state history

Colorado’s dropout rate also improved slightly, declining by 0.3 percentage points to 1.6% — the state’s lowest rate in more than 10 years. Rural school districts see an even smaller percentage of students drop out of school: 1.1%.

Dropout rate is calculated based only on students from grades 7-12 who left school within the 2024-25 school year, excluding students who transferred to other schools or graduated. Roughly 7,437 students dropped out throughout the year, 1,413 fewer than in 2024.

The state’s dropout rate has been on the mend since the pandemic high of 2.2% in 2021-22. According to the department, the 2025 rate is the lowest in state history.

“In both graduation and dropout outcomes, the 2025 data show that more students are staying engaged in school and making progress toward graduation,” Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova said during an online briefing of the results. 

The majority of rural school districts in Colorado’s ski towns saw lower dropout rates, including districts in Summit, Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Routt and Pitkin counties. Both the Aspen and Steamboat school districts have a dropout rate lower than 0.5%.

Gaps persist for some student groups

Several student groups that have historically recorded lower graduation rates saw improvements during the 2024-25 school year.

Four-year graduation rate increases for Black (up 2.3%), Hispanic (up 2.9%) and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (up 7.3%) students increased above the statewide increase of 1.3 percentage points, but are still below the statewide 85.6% graduation rate. Asian students, the only group to see a drop in graduation rates, is also the group with the highest percentage of students graduating at 92.6%.

Students with disabilities, multilingual learners, economically disadvantaged students, students from migrant families and students in foster care saw a similar trend, posting significant improvements in four-year graduation rates despite falling below the statewide figure. Students from migrant families saw the biggest increase — 4.7%. Currently, the group with the lowest overall graduation rate is students in foster care, where less than half graduate in four years.

“These improvements reflect a positive trend that we want to see continue, and underscore the importance of staying focused on student engagement, relevance and targeted supports, especially for students with our highest needs,” said Johann Liljengren, director of dropout prevention and student re-engagement with the Colorado Department of Education.

Similar to the statewide graduation rates, dropout rates for most students of color and student groups improved, but remained higher than the state average, with the exception of Asian students.

Students in foster care, multilingual learners, students experiencing homelessness and students identified as American Indian or Alaska Native dropped out at more than twice the statewide rate, while Hispanic, Black and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students were more than twice as likely as white students to drop out.