New York State reports high school graduation rates for four-year, five-year, and six-year cohorts. A cohort is a group of students who first entered ninth grade in the same school year. The four-year graduation rate is the percentage of that group that earned a local or Regents diploma within four years. The five-year rate gives the group an additional year, and the six-year rate adds a second additional year. The New York State Education Department (NYSED) describes the rates as a calculation of the percentage of students who have graduated with a high school diploma within a designated number of years since the student first entered high school (NYSED, April 29, 2024).
This article explains the NYSED definitions, how the cohorts are formed, what the numbers can and cannot tell you, and what families can ask when they see a graduation rate on a school report card. It focuses on New York State K-12 policy. It does not present current rates for any specific school or district.
Key definitions
- Cohort: A group of students who first entered ninth grade in the same school year. NYSED determines the cohort year by the student’s first date of entry into grade 9 (NYSED).
- Four-year graduation rate: The percentage of a cohort that earned a local or Regents diploma within four years of first entering ninth grade.
- Five-year graduation rate: The percentage of a cohort that earned a local or Regents diploma within five years.
- Six-year graduation rate: The percentage of a cohort that earned a local or Regents diploma within six years.
- Local diploma and Regents diploma: NYSED counts students as graduates if they earned a local or Regents diploma as of August 31 of the year preceding the reporting year (NYSED). Other credentials, such as a high school equivalency diploma, are not counted in this definition.
- Reporting year: The year in which NYSED publishes the graduation rate. The rate is determined using cohorts as of June 30 of the year preceding the reporting year, and graduates are counted as of August 31 of that preceding year (NYSED).
How NYSED forms the cohorts
NYSED’s definition ties each rate to a different cohort in a single reporting year. For a given reporting year:
- The four-year cohort includes students who first entered high school in the school year that is four years prior to the end of August of the graduation reporting year.
- The five-year cohort includes students who first entered high school five years prior to that same end-of-August date.
- The six-year cohort includes students who first entered high school six years prior.
This is the most important nuance for reading a graduation-rate table. In one reporting year, the four-year rate and the five-year rate do not describe the same students. The four-year rate is for a younger cohort; the five-year rate is for an older cohort that has had an extra year to graduate. The same pattern applies to the six-year rate (NYSED).
| Rate | Cohort first entered grade 9 | Graduation window |
|---|---|---|
| Four-year | Four years prior to the end of August of the reporting year | Within four years |
| Five-year | Five years prior to the end of August of the reporting year | Within five years |
| Six-year | Six years prior to the end of August of the reporting year | Within six years |
To see how a specific cohort performed over time, you would need to compare that cohort’s four-year rate in one reporting year with its five-year rate in the following reporting year, and its six-year rate in the year after that. NYSED’s published tables may present the rates side by side for a single reporting year, but the cohort behind each column is different.
Why New York reports more than one rate
A four-year graduation rate is a useful on-time indicator. It shows how many students in a ninth-grade cohort earned a diploma in the standard four years of high school. But some students need more time. They may need to recover credits, change schools, repeat a grade, or address health, family, or other circumstances. A five-year rate recognizes that a student who graduates in a fifth year still earns a diploma. A six-year rate extends that recognition further.
Reporting multiple rates gives families, educators, and policymakers a fuller picture than a single number. A school with a lower four-year rate may have a stronger five-year rate, which can suggest that students are finishing with additional support rather than dropping out. At the same time, a five-year rate is not automatically better than a four-year rate; it simply measures a different time window and a different cohort.
Worked example: reading two rates in one table
The following example is illustrative and uses invented numbers. It is not based on any real school or district.
Suppose a high school’s report card for the 2023 reporting year shows a four-year graduation rate of 80% and a five-year graduation rate of 85%. A reader might think that 5 percentage points of students needed an extra year. But the two rates come from different cohorts:
- The four-year rate of 80% describes the cohort that first entered ninth grade in 2019.
- The five-year rate of 85% describes the cohort that first entered ninth grade in 2018.
To estimate how many students in the 2018 cohort graduated in a fifth year, you would look at that cohort’s four-year rate from the 2022 reporting year. If the 2018 cohort had a four-year rate of 82% in 2022 and a five-year rate of 85% in 2023, then about 3 percentage points more of that cohort graduated by the fifth year. That is a same-cohort comparison. Comparing the 2023 four-year rate to the 2023 five-year rate is not.
What the numbers can and cannot tell you
Graduation rates are valuable but limited. They are calculated from a defined cohort: students who first entered ninth grade in a particular school year. The rate does not, by itself, explain why students graduated or did not graduate. It does not show whether students transferred to another school, moved out of state, or pursued a different credential. NYSED’s public definition does not detail every adjustment for transfers, withdrawals, or other cohort changes; those details can affect how a rate is calculated. For a specific school or district, check the technical documentation that accompanies the report card for that reporting year.
Also, a graduation rate is not a complete measure of school quality. It reflects the experiences of one cohort and can be influenced by student mobility, economic conditions, available course offerings, and the support students receive. A higher rate is generally a positive sign, but it should be read alongside other information: attendance, course passing, subgroup performance, and the types of diplomas students earn.
Finally, be careful with comparisons. A four-year rate for one school and a five-year rate for another school are not comparable. Even two four-year rates may describe different cohorts if they come from different reporting years. When comparing, use the same rate type, the same reporting year, and the same student group whenever possible.
Common misconceptions
Federal context: similar ideas in higher education
The same basic idea appears in federal higher education data, but with different definitions. The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects graduation rates through its Graduation Rates (GR) survey, which tracks full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates. GR reports completion at 100% and 150% of normal time to program completion. The Graduation Rates 200% (GR200) survey extends the timeline to 200% of normal time (NCES, IPEDS). These federal measures apply to colleges and universities, not to New York’s K-12 graduation rates. They are useful context because they show that education systems often report completion over multiple time windows, but the cohorts, denominators, and reporting rules are different.
Questions for parents and families
When you see a graduation rate on a New York school report card, ask:
- Is this the four-year, five-year, or six-year rate?
- Which cohort does it describe? When did those students first enter ninth grade?
- What diploma types are counted? Does the rate include local diplomas and Regents diplomas?
- How does the school support students who need more than four years to finish?
- How do graduation rates look for different groups of students, such as students with disabilities, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged students?
- What other information is available, such as attendance, credit accumulation, and post-high-school plans?
You can find official rates and definitions through the New York State Education Department’s data and reporting resources. District and school websites sometimes summarize the rates, but the state report card is the authoritative source for the state’s calculations.
Sources and methodology
This article explains the definitions published by the New York State Education Department for four-year, five-year, and six-year graduation rates. The core definitions come from NYSED’s data support article ‘What is the difference between the 4-, 5-, and 6-year graduation rates?’ (April 29, 2024). The federal higher education comparison comes from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) IPEDS page ‘Measuring Student Success In IPEDS: Graduation Rates (GR), Graduation Rates 200% (GR200), And Outcome Measures (OM).’
The article does not present current graduation rates for any school, district, or the state. It describes how the rates are defined and how to read them. Source-check date: October 12, 2026. The NYSED definition page was last updated April 29, 2024. Reporting years and data periods vary by release; always check the specific report card for the year you are viewing.
FAQ
What is the difference between a four-year and five-year graduation rate?
A four-year rate measures the percentage of a ninth-grade cohort that earned a local or Regents diploma within four years. A five-year rate measures the percentage of a different cohort that earned a diploma within five years. In a single reporting year, the two rates describe different groups of students.
Why does New York State report a five-year graduation rate?
It gives students an additional year to finish high school and earn a diploma. It can show whether students who did not graduate in four years are completing with extra support.
Can I compare a school's four-year rate to its five-year rate?
Not directly as if they were the same students. In a single reporting year, the four-year and five-year rates use different cohorts. To compare the same cohort over time, look at its four-year rate in one year and its five-year rate in the next year.
Which diplomas count toward New York's graduation rate?
NYSED counts students as graduates if they earned a local or Regents diploma as of August 31 of the year preceding the reporting year.
Where can I find my school's graduation rate?
The New York State Education Department publishes school and district report cards with graduation rates. Check the report card for the specific reporting year and read the definitions that accompany it.
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