Minnesota students and educators achieved the highest graduation rate in state history in 2025
For more information, contact:
CHRIS WILLIAMS
651-292-4816 (work)
651-247-5539 (cell)
ST. PAUL, Minnesota, April 3, 2026 — Tens of thousands of Minnesota’s public school educators led the state’s Class of 2025 to the highest four-year high school graduation rate in state history, Education Minnesota said Friday.
Nearly 85% (84.9%) of Minnesota’s Class of 2025 earned their diplomas within four years, eclipsing the previous record of 84.2% set in 2024 and marking the second consecutive year of record-breaking progress, according to data released Friday by the Minnesota Department of Education.
The data also showed graduation rates improving across nearly every student demographic group, with significant gains among American Indian, Black and Asian students, students receiving special education services and students from lower-income families.
“To the Class of 2025 and the educators who guided them there — congratulations,” said Monica Byron, president of Education Minnesota. “These young people worked incredibly hard, often through real adversity, and the teachers, education support professionals and other educators who showed up for them every single day are a big reason they made it across that stage. This is their achievement to share.”
American Indian students posted the largest year-over-year gains of any racial group, with the statewide four-year graduation rate rising nearly 5 percentage points from 2024. Since 2021, the graduation rate for American Indian students has climbed 9 percentage points. Black students gained 2.4 percentage points from the prior year; graduation rates for Latinx students rose slightly to 72.4%. Approximately 90% of Asian and white students graduated in four years.
Byron said the record results are a testament to educators who are delivering for students, even as educators face mounting pressures of their own.
“What makes this achievement remarkable is the context in which it happened,” Byron said. “Our educators are exhausted. They’re dealing with burnout, with classrooms that keep getting more complex, and with health insurance costs that have become a genuine financial crisis for too many families. And yet, every morning, they walk through those school doors and give everything they have. Minnesota’s students are graduating at record rates because Minnesota’s educators refuse to give up.”
The lone groups to post year-over-year declines were students in foster care (-1.4%), migrant students (-1.1%) and English learners (-0.1%).
The state’s four-year graduation rate had slipped to 83% in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic before recovering to 84.2% in 2024, which was a record high at that time.
About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the voice for professional educators and students. Education Minnesota’s members include teachers and education support professionals in Minnesota’s public school districts, faculty members at Minnesota’s community and technical colleges and University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and Crookston, retired educators and student teachers. Education Minnesota is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.
