The high school graduation rate in Colorado increased slightly in the 2023-24 school year, up 1.1 percent from the previous year to 84.3 percent.

The Colorado Department of Education reported that this increase, and the adjacent decrease in the drop-out rate by 0.2 percent to 1.9 percent in 2023-24, is “promising progress.”

“I am encouraged by the momentum of our state’s multiyear improvements, especially in the gaps that are closing,” said Education Commissioner Susana Córdova. “We also must do more to keep students engaged in meaningful learning experiences that prepare them for success after graduation.”

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A total of 58,318 Colorado students graduated in four years in the 2023-24 school year. This was an increase of 1,506 compared to the prior year and a 10-year high in the graduation rate.

The four-year graduation rate for students of color, homeless students, students from migrant families, students with disabilities, multilingual learners, students in foster care, and male students all lagged behind the state’s 84.3 percent.

This report from the state Department of Education came closely on the heels of two recent studies that called for Colorado to spend billions more on K-12 education programs, partly to address concerns about graduation rates.

Currently, Colorado allocates $8,726 per student. Under the new formula proposed, the state would be allocating $12,346 per student, with additional money for at-risk students.

Experts at the Common Sense Institute said they believe more funding isn’t necessarily the solution to fixing many of the problems facing Colorado’s students, including graduation rates.

“We have one of the worst high school graduation rates in the country,” said Kelly Caufield, executive director of the institute. “The high school graduation rate is really a drag on Colorado's overall education performance.”

To truly help graduation rates, Caufield said there needs to be a realignment of “high school and college programming with the needs of the workforce.”

According to Caufield, this would come with encouraging more alternative high school routes like science and technology programs, while directing funding not towards more administration or staffing but to address the “needs of the students.”

“A new conversation is needed,” she said. “We’re $17, $18 billion in education spending and still not seeing the improvements that we need.”

The graduation rate for Colorado students continues to fall behind the national average, despite its upward trend over the past few years.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average graduation rate in the nation was 87 percent, placing Colorado three percentage points behind. West Virginia, Tennessee, and Wisconsin all have some of the highest graduation rates in the nation, coming in at 90 percent.