Oregon high schoolers in the class of 2025 graduated at all-time highs for the state but still at a lower rate than recent national averages, according to the latest state data.

Despite stubbornly small gains in student proficiency in key subject areas since the pandemic, and consistently high absenteeism rates, more than 40,300 students graduated from Oregon’s public schools in 2025, reaching an 83% four-year graduation rate, the Oregon Department of Education announced Thursday.

It’s an increase of 9 percentage points over the last decade and 1 percentage point over the previous year, equivalent to about 500 more students graduating in 2025 than in 2024. It’s the highest graduation rate ever recorded in the state, besting the previous record of 82.6% achieved by the class of 2020.

But it’s still below national averages in recent years that have hovered around 87% according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. News and World Report. The National Center for Education Statistics has not published a nationwide average graduation rate since 2023.

Oregon’s class of 2025 was the first to have attended all four years of high school in person since the COVID pandemic shut down schools and moved students to remote learning. Among the 23 different student groups the education department tracks, 19 saw record graduation rates, including among migrant students, students in special education programs, foster students and students experiencing poverty and houselessness.

Charlene Williams, director of the Oregon Department of Education, said at a news conference Tuesday ahead of the data release that squaring rising graduation rates with stagnant student proficiency levels, as measured by state assessment data, has less to do with real learning challenges than with Oregon schools’ and parents’ attitudes towards state testing.

Oregon’s participation rates in state assessment tests are among the most inconsistent in the nation, state education officials have said, because Oregon allows parents to opt their kids out of taking them.

“I think there are two things that can be true in this moment. Our graduation rate, I believe, does reflect real progress in supporting students to stay in and complete school,” she told reporters. “The reconciling is: We have more work to do to ensure that we are taking those assessments seriously, and that our teachers and our students have what they need to perform well on those state assessments.”

Williams and state education officials highlighted the growing number of Oregon high schoolers participating in college-level coursework and taking Advanced Placement exams, up 70% since 2021, and gains made across all student groups who took at least two career and technical education classes, or CTE classes.

Graduation rates were 20 percentage points higher for American Indian and Alaska Native students who took CTE classes than their peers who did not.

Williams said it was “clear evidence that relevant hands-on learning, connected to future careers, makes a difference.”

Of Oregon’s 115 school districts with more than 50 high school graduates, 20% saw record graduation rates in 2025, including small districts like St. Helens and Banks that saw double-digit growth in their graduation rates.

In November, state education officials shared that a record 86.6% of Oregon’s 9th graders during the 2024-25 school year were on track to graduate in four years.

“That is a powerful indicator that more students are starting high school with the momentum they need to succeed,” Williams said. “Today’s graduation results show what happens when that momentum is sustained.”

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