RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — State data shows that 92.1% of Virginia’s public high school Class of 2022 graduated, a figure slightly lower than 2021’s rate but higher than the two years before the pandemic hit.
The Virginia Department of Education released reports on 2022 graduation data, including on-time graduation rates and figures broken down by race, gender, school division and more.
According to state data, Virginia’s on-time graduation rate was 91.6% for the Class of 2018, 91.5% for the Class of 2019, 92.3% for the Class of 2020, 93% for the Class of 2021 and 92.1% for the Class of 2022.
“The slight dip in the statewide graduation rate this year was not surprising in that the pandemic-related allowances and flexibilities provided to students in the classes of 2020 and 2021 were not extended to the class of 2022,” Charles Pyle, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, told 8News.
The state’s report shows that 94% of female students and 90.2% of male students in the Class of 2022 graduated on time.
Data shows that 5.19% of the 98,648 students in the Class of 2022 dropped out, which is more than 5,100 students. The dropout rate for male students in the Class of 2022 was 6.51% and 3.78% for female students.
Here are the graduation rates broken down by race:
| Subgroup | Graduation rate | Dropout rate |
| American Indian | 86.34% | 9.76% |
| Asian | 98.25% | 1.13% |
| Black | 90.27% | 5.49% |
| Hispanic | 83.12% | 13.95% |
| Native Hawaiian | 96.00% | 3.33% |
| White | 94.88% | 2.85% |
| Multiple races | 93.59% | 3.70% |
Nearly ninety percent of students in the Class of 2022 with disabilities (89.9%) graduated and 7.86% dropped out. Nearly eighty-eight percent of students described as “economically disadvantaged” in the report (87.71%) graduated.
The report shows stark gaps in graduation and dropout rates among English learners, migrants and students who experienced homelessness.
English learners in the Class of 2022 had a 72.69% graduation rate and a 24.77% dropout rate, the report says. The 32 students under the subgroup “migrant anytime” in the report had a 62.5% graduation rate and a 28.13% dropout rate.
The 1,041 students under the subgroup “homeless” in the report had a 76.46% graduation rate and a 17.1% dropout rate. The 2,795 students under the subgroup “homeless anytime” had a 70.13% graduation rate and a 22.83% dropout rate.
Here are the graduation and dropout rates in local school divisions:
| School district | Graduation rate (% change from 2021) | Dropout rate |
| Chesterfield | 91.5% (-0.9%) | 6% |
| Goochland | 96% (-1.2%) | 3.1% |
| Hanover | 95.2% (-0.2) | 2.5% |
| Henrico | 90% (-0.5%) | 7.5% |
| Hopewell | 89.8% (+4.9%) | 2.6% |
| Louisa | 95.1% (+1.6%) | 4.2% |
| Petersburg | 85.7% (-0.9%) | 4.2% |
| Richmond | 74.3% (-4.2%) | 20% |
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