Graduation Rate is determined at the secondary level using the four-year, five-year, and six-year graduation rate total cohorts as of June 30th of the year preceding the reporting year. Students in the cohorts are considered graduates if they earned a local or Regent's diploma as of August 31st of the year preceding the reporting year.
Cohort year is determined by the student’s first date of entry into grade 9. The cohort graduation rates are a calculation of the percentage of students who have graduated with a high school diploma within a designated number of years since the student first entered high school. The rate is calculated for a cohort of students who have all entered high school for the first time during the same school year, for example:
- Students in a 4-year cohort all entered high school for the first time during the school year that is four years prior to the end of August of the graduation reporting year.
- Students in a 5-year cohort all entered high school for the first time during the school year that is five years prior to the end of August of the graduation reporting year, and
- Students in a 6-year cohort all entered high school for the first time during the school year that is six years prior to the end of August of the graduation reporting year.