Number and percentage of students graduating from high school (including public, charter, private, and home schools and students earning high school equivalent if data is available)

Status

The graphic to the right shows the percentage of students that graduated from public and charter high schools within a four year cohort. This graduation rate was determined by dividing the number of students who graduate from a public or charter high school in Travis County by the total number of students in high schools in Travis County. This data shows that the city of Austin's high school graduation rates are on track. This means that students are successfully completing their high school educations. In doing so, they are able to pursue other goals like higher education, joining the military, and joining the workforce.

Trending

2021 is the most recent data publicly available. The data suggests that students have been graduating at about the same rate each year for the past six years. To increase the graduation rate, the City of Austin needs to take action in the form of increasing student retention, decreasing the student dropout rate, and mitigating any and all barriers to educational success (economic, geographic, or otherwise).  We will continue to monitor the situation and report to the City of Austin with ideas for performance improvement.
Note: to see the underlying data for this chart, please select the "View Source Data" link to the left.

Additional Measure Insights

Council District
The visualization below displays two layers: the average percentage of students who graduated high school in their four-year cohorts in Austin's ten council districts, and the name, type, and location of the high schools that represent the data. The dark red regions indicate districts that have a high average percentage of graduates, while the light yellow regions show districts with low average graduation rates. To view the average percentage of graduates in each City Council District by year, click "Filter" and select the desired year. The blue dots indicate public schools, and the green dots indicate charter schools. To view more information on each high school, hover over the point on the map.
Note: This is a multi-layer map. The map layers can be toggled by selecting the desired layer in the upper left corner of the visualization.

Demographic Information

Race and Ethnicity
The visualization on the right displays the percentage of students graduating from high school by race and ethnicity, including African American, Native American, Asian, Hispanic, Multiracial, and White, compared to the county graduation rate for all students each year.
Note: Pacific Islander data is included in the dataset, but not in the visualization, because there was not enough information provided from the TEA database to be representative.
On average, Native American students, over the time period measured, have the lowest graduation rate out of the demographic groups measured, and do not meet the 90% target (with the exception of 2016). African American and Hispanic students experience a lower graduation rate and are consistently below the 90% target, compared to their White and Asian counterparts, who are above target. Multiracial students usually graduate at a rate above target.
Gender
The visualization on the left displays the percentage of students graduating from high school by gender (female and male). Female students in Travis County are regularly reaching the target rate of 90%, while male students are below the target.
Note: TEA graduation data does not represent students who identify outside of the male-female gender binary.
Other Socioeconomic Factors
The visualizations below represent various socioeconomic factors that may have an effect on graduation rates.
A. Students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and students who experienced homelessness in Grades 9-12 have a lower chance of graduating high school than their not economically disadvantaged and Title I counterparts. Only 65-78% of students experiencing homelessness have graduated within four years since 2016.
B. Students who are "at-risk" using state-defined criteria, students who have been in foster care (Grades 9-12, and in the last year), and students who are immigrants have a lower chance of graduating high school within four years. These students are consistently below the target rate of 90%. Students from state definition military-connected backgrounds are not significantly impacted in their graduation rates.
C. Bilingual and English language learner (ELL) students had graduation rates that did not meet the 90% annual target over the last five years.
D. Students enrolled in special education had graduation rates that did not meet the 90% annual target over the last five years (70-77%). This is a contrast to students who are enrolled in enrichment programs, who have graduation rates that are significantly above the annual target (99-100%).
City Programs for Students
The Youth Initiatives Office is a citywide function.  The Office provides a variety of youth programs including:
  • Austin Corps has a year round civic engagement program for high school seniors.
  • Austin Youth Council  - an active civic youth group.  A way to amplify youth voices.  The Council serves as a mirror of the Austin City Council.
  • Austin Public Health has a year round public health internship program for high school youth interested in public health careers.
Summer Internship Programs for high school youth:
  • Emerging Leaders Internship – an internship program with funding provided by Bank of America
  • Get Ready! A STEAM Internship – an internship program where all placements are within STEAM career fields
  • Aviation Internship – an internship program held at the airport supporting careers within the Aviation Department
  • Austin Convention Internship – a hospitality internship program that focuses on hospitality careers
All programs are open to all youth who live in the City of Austin regardless of their high school attendance. The data that is used for this measure is from Texas Education Agency and we have no control of their data. However, we hope that some of our programs help with developing self-sufficiency.

Measure Details and Definition

1) Definition:  This measure shows the percentage of graduates from high schools in the City of Austin. This data set specifically focuses on public and charter high schools in the Austin area.
2) Calculation method: This measure was calculated using the formula: The number of students who graduated, divided by the total number of students in the four-year cohort.
3) Data Collection Process:  This is a part of the annual survey distributed and managed by the Texas Education Agency.
4) Measure Target Calculation: The target was calculated using the past three years worth of data, which suggested that the City usually scores above 80% on this measure.
5) Frequency Measure is Reported: Data is collected every year, with a one-year lag. 2022 data has not yet been published as of April 2023. 
Date page was last updated: April 2023