Cohort Graduation Rate

The Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Data Quality, compiles statistical information covering the 4-Year, 5-Year, and 6-Year Graduation Rates for Pennsylvania public schools. Pennsylvania's public high schools provide the graduate and enrollment data through the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS), which is used to calculate the above rates.

The cohort graduation rates are a calculation of the percentage of students who have graduated with a regular high school diploma within a designated number of years since the student first entered high school. The rate is determined for a cohort of students who have all entered high school for the first time during the same school year.

Graduates

The Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Data Quality, provides a compilation of statistical information covering high school graduates in Pennsylvania's public schools. Pennsylvania's public high schools with enrollment in grade 12; including secondary ungraded, provide the graduate data through the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS). In prior years, this data was collected via the Electronic Dropout/Graduate Report (EDGR) web-based system. These reports provide information on intended post-high school activity of graduates, including college bound students.

For purposes of the listed reports, a high school graduate is a student who has received a diploma. Students earning high school credentials by obtaining a General Educational Development (GED) diploma are not considered graduates for the purpose of the Graduate data.

Included below are reports on current and trend graduate data by school. Provided in these listings are individual school graduate data as well as Statewide Summaries.

Dropouts

The Division of Data Quality collects data on secondary-level students who drop out of school.

Data used in calculating dropout rates was collected via the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS) starting in 2007-08. In prior years, this data was collected via the Public School Enrollment Report (ESPE) and the Public School Dropout Survey (EDGR). These instruments provided a "snapshot" of the fall enrollment in grades 7 through 12 and the total number of dropouts in those grades throughout a single school year.

The following definitions apply:

DROPOUT - A student who, for any reason other than death, leaves school before graduation without transferring to another school/institution.

DROPOUT RATE - An annual or "event" rate that measures the proportion of students enrolled who drop out during a single school year. The total number of dropouts for the school year is divided by the fall enrollment for the same year.

The total number of dropouts is counted for the 12-month period from October 1 to September 30, but the total secondary enrollment was obtained on October 1 (a snapshot view).

Included below are reports on current and trend dropout data by school. Provided in these listings are individual school dropout data and dropout rates as well as summaries for local education agencies, counties and the state.

Contact Information

For additional information, please contact:

Data Quality Office
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Forum Building
607 South Drive
Harrisburg, PA  17120​
Ra-DDQDataCollection@pa.gov