All youth deserve to have access to a quality education. Students are low income, have disabilities or are learning English have additional barriers to graduation.  Students who graduate from high school have higher wages, lower unemployment and are less likely to need public assistance than those who do not graduate. Their long-term physical and mental health is also better if they graduate from high school.

What the data shows
In June 2022, in Maine, nearly every population subgroup had lower graduation rates than two years before 2020. For all students, graduation rates decreased from 87.4% in 2020 to 86.1% in 2022, the lowest it has been since 2016.

Comparing June 2022 to June 2021, economically disadvantaged students' graduation rates increased from 76.7% in 2021 and 77.6% in 2022.%; English language learners rates fell from 75.6% in 2021 to 70.4%, in 2022 while the rate for students with disabilities kept stable with graduation rates at 73.2%.

Comparing Maine to the nation, 2019 is the latest year with data. In 2019, Maine had graduation rates above the national average for students with disabilities at 71.0% versus the US 2019 rate of 68.2%. State graduation rates for students with disabilities 20196

 For English language learners, Maine's 2019 high school graduation rate in 4 years exceeded the  national rate of 69.2%, but while national data for 2022 is not available, the 2022 close appears to no longer exceed national averages.  Graduation Rates for English Language Learners  For economically disadvantaged students that make up 37% of the student population, the graduation rate in Maine of 77.5% for 2019 was lower than the national rates 2019 rate of 80.0%. Graduation rates of low-income students and Maine was among the ten states with the largest gap in graduation rates between low-income students and high-income students.

All youth deserve to have access to a quality education. Students are low income, have disabilities or are learning English have additional barriers to graduation.  Students who graduate from high school have higher wages, lower unemployment and are less likely to need public assistance than those who do not graduate. Their long-term physical and mental health is also better if they graduate from high school.

What the data shows
In June 2022, in Maine, nearly every population subgroup had lower graduation rates than two years before 2020. For all students, graduation rates decreased from 87.4% in 2020 to 86.1% in 2022, the lowest it has been since 2016.

Comparing June 2022 to June 2021, economically disadvantaged students' graduation rates increased from 76.7% in 2021 and 77.6% in 2022.%; English language learners rates fell from 75.6% in 2021 to 70.4%, in 2022 while the rate for students with disabilities kept stable with graduation rates at 73.2%.

Comparing Maine to the nation, 2019 is the latest year with data. In 2019, Maine had graduation rates above the national average for students with disabilities at 71.0% versus the US 2019 rate of 68.2%. State graduation rates for students with disabilities 20196

 For English language learners, Maine's 2019 high school graduation rate in 4 years exceeded the  national rate of 69.2%, but while national data for 2022 is not available, the 2022 close appears to no longer exceed national averages.  Graduation Rates for English Language Learners  For economically disadvantaged students that make up 37% of the student population, the graduation rate in Maine of 77.5% for 2019 was lower than the national rates 2019 rate of 80.0%. Graduation rates of low-income students and Maine was among the ten states with the largest gap in graduation rates between low-income students and high-income students.