The percentage of public school students who have graduated within four years of entering ninth grade for the first time (tracked by student ID number). Students who are deceased or transfer out of the school or district to attend elsewhere are removed from the group of students (cohort) tracked. Incoming transfer students, at enrollment, are included in the county of the class with which they are scheduled to graduate. Those receiving a standard diploma are included; those receiving a special diploma, completing the GED examination, and Certificate recipients are excluded. Federal regulations require each state to calculate a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate which only includes standard diplomas. The US Department of Education (USED) adopted this new graduation rate calculation method to develop uniform, accurate, and comparable graduation rates across all states. Beginning in 2011/12 Florida is calculating and reporting only the federal uniform graduation rate. This method replaces the National Governors Association (NGA) rate which is no longer calculated. The federal rate meets the requirements of Florida's NGA compact by race and Hispanic origin.

Race and Hispanic categories are as follows:
White, non-Hispanic - a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa;
Black, non-Hispanic - a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa;
Other race, non-Hispanic - a person choosing one of the following single race categories alone:

American Indian or Alaskan Native - a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment;
Asian - a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam;
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander - a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands;


Two or more races - a person having origins of two or more of the above listed racial categories.
Hispanic - A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. The term, “Spanish origin” can be used in addition to “Hispanic or Latino”.