Howard County Reports Graduation Rate for Class of 2024 Above State Average

February 26th, 2025

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, the Maryland State Department of Education released graduation and dropout rates for the Class of 2024. The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) Class of 2024 achieved a graduation rate of 93.54%, 5.94 percentage points better than the State average of 87.6% and .97 percentage points above the HCPSS Class of 2023. The HCPSS Class of 2024 dropout rate was 3.60%, a decrease from the Class of 2023 dropout rate of 4.38% and less than half the 2024 four-year dropout rate of 8.3% for Maryland.

While HCPSS’ 2024 graduation rates persist among some student demographic groups, a few groups showed notable improvement compared to 2023. Graduation rates for students who receive special education services increased to 75.77% in 2024, up 7.73% from 68.04% in 2023. The graduation rate for Hispanic/Latino students increased over 6 percentage points, from 78.73% in 2023 to 84.79% in 2024. Students in the Limited English Proficiency group increased 5.43% from 60.33% in 2023 to 65.76% in 2024. This group also saw the largest decrease in dropout rates, down 11.44% over 2023 rates.

Students who are considered Economically Disadvantaged also saw a marginal increase in graduation rates in 2024, up 1.41% to 86.31% over 84.90% in 2023.

“I am encouraged to see our graduation rates holding steady over last year with improvements for some groups in our student population,” said HCPSS Superintendent Bill Barnes. “However, we need to continue to support all students to help them achieve success both in school and beyond and persist in our quest to be great for all students. We have considerable opportunities ahead of us to be sure we are a great school system for every student we serve.”

“In addition to our hardworking students, our teachers and school staff should take pride in our graduation rate because it is an indicator of their passion and dedication to student success,” said Jolene Mosley, HCPSS Board of Education Chair. “We must continue to find strategic ways to work together across the system to make improvements, so we are moving the needle in a positive direction across all student groups.” 

Additional details on graduation and dropout rates for HCPSS and other Maryland school systems and schools can be found online.