Minnesota sets record-high graduation rate in 2025, data shows
Minnesota's high school graduation rate in 2025 was the highest in state history, according to data collated by the state's department of education.
It was the second year in a row that the state saw record high levels. In 2024, Minnesota's four-year graduation rate was 84.2%, and in 2025, it was 84.9%.
The data released Friday shows that 90.1% of Asian students graduated, compared to 89.9% of White students, 76.4% of Black students, 72.4% of Hispanic or Latino students and 67.6% of American Indian students. The data also points to Asian, Black, American Indian and Hispanic or Latino students showing greater year-to-year growth than their White counterparts.
Department of Education Commissioner Willie Jett credited the growth to an overall increase in emotional engagement from students.
"I believe there's an increase in student reporting that they believe their teachers and others in their lives care about them," he said.
Students have also increasingly reported that an adult had connected with them about their post-secondary plans, Jett added.
For American Indian students — whose graduation rate increased by 4.8 percentage points between 2024 and 2025 and 9 percentage points from 2021 to 2025 — Jett attributed the growth in part to including Indigenous history and culture in the high school curriculum.
Groups that saw a year-to-year decline included English learners, migrants and students in foster care, though those groups have seen overall growth in the last four years, data shows.
St. Paul Public Schools say programs that specifically targeted students of color truly paid off.
"We have our office of Indian Education that has specific programs in specific high schools where we have higher population of groups, like specifically our American Indian program at Harding High School and our braided journey at Johnson High School, to ensure that those additional supports are in place," said St. Paul Assistant Superintendent Adam Kunz.
Kunz believes the increase in graduation rates across the board in St. Paul can be attributed to its standards-based grading, where grading is about what students know and can do.
"Over the course of a quarter, if a student needs to do reassessment or to relearn, that is available for students," Kunz said. "So if I tried to do a paper and parts of that paper need to be redone, teachers are being trained and students understand that that is a process, a true like, relearning journey that can happen during the school year and I think that has some positive impacts."
Gov. Tim Walz said the record high graduation rate was a "moment worth celebrating."
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said the progress among Native students is "meaningful and long overdue."
"This represents real momentum and reflects intentional investments in education. While we celebrate this progress, we remain committed to continuing this work until every student has the support and opportunity to graduate and thrive," she said.
