The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Stand up for the facts! Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Greg Abbott stated on February 19, 2018 in a conference call with voters: Says Texas ranks among the nation’s top five states for its high school graduation rate. ![\\"true\\"](\\" true/3d4df195c595a07e3fd69b5e4aab3e3c.jpg.\\") ![\\"true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Children * Education * Texas * Greg Abbott ![\\"Gov.](\\" Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking here after casting his ballot in the 2018 Republican primary Feb. 20, 2018, told supporters Texas ranks in the top 5 nationally for its high-school graduation rate (PHOTO: RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL, Austin American-Statesman). By W. Gardner Selby March 2, 2018 # Greg Abbott says Texas ranks among 5 top states for its high-school graduation rate Gov. Greg Abbott told voters in advance of the March 2018 party primaries that Texas ranks very high nationally in its share of students graduating from high school. In a conference call with campaign supporters, Abbott said Feb. 19, 2018: \"This is one of those facts that you are able to disarm liberals about. Listen, Texas has one of the top five states in the nation for high school graduation rate. More kids are graduating from high school, more kids are graduating from college than ever before.\" It shouldn’t surprise that in fast-growing Texas, more students graduate from high school and college than in years past. We focused on whether Texas still ranks among states with the highest high school graduation rates. By phone, Abbott spokesman John Wittman told us Abbott relied on a federal chart showing state-by-state high school graduation rates in 2015-16. According to the chart, posted by the National Center for Education Statistics, Iowa led the nation that year with a 91.3 percent high school graduation rate. The chart says New Jersey ran second, with a 90.1 percent rate, followed by West Virginia (89.8 percent) and Nebraska (89.3 percent). Texas landed fifth, the chart says, with a rate of 89.1 percent, just ahead of Missouri (89 percent). The nation’s high school graduation rate was 84.1 percent, the chart says. That fifth-place standing means Texas didn’t rank as highly as some other years. We asked the Texas Education Agency about the apparent slippage. By email, Lauren Callahan replied: \"Yes, the rankings merely reflect relative performance and are accurate to the extent that the rates used for the rankings are accurate. However, we would like to also note that our graduation rate has consistently increased year over year for each graduating class.\" The statewide graduation rate in 2014-15 was 89 percent, the agency says, compared with 88.3 percent in 2013-14, 88 percent in 2012-13 and 84.3 percent in 2009-10. Another metric From past fact checks, we recognized another method is often used to gauge progress through high school — by comparing a year’s count of graduates to the number of ninth-graders three years earlier, with the difference indicating student attrition. Julian Vasquez Heilig, a professor at California State University Sacramento, has urged us to put stock in the attrition indicator because, he said, it shows the substantial drop-offs in student enrollment between ninth grade and the end of 12th grade. After Abbott spoke, we looked for a recent state-by-state breakdowns--getting a reminder that there are two ways to make this alternate comparison. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on August 29, 2024 in a post on Instagram “BREAKING: Illegal Aliens in San Diego, California, tried to hijack 2 school buses filled with children.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • September 4, 2024 In 2014-15, according to the NCES, 89 percent of Texas high-school students graduated three years after finishing ninth grade. According to the agency, Texas tied Alabama and Nebraska for third place nationally by this metric with Iowa (91 percent) and New Jersey (90 percent) leading the nation. Texas lags more states by a cruder yet popular measure based on tallying high school graduates each year and comparing that count to the number of students who completed ninth grade three years before. In 2012-13, the latest year analyzed by the NCES, Texas tied with California with an \"averaged freshman graduation rate\" of 83.6 percent. Twenty states had higher rates, a center chart says, with Nebraska No. 1 (93.3 percent rate) followed by Wisconsin (93 percent), North Dakota (91.4 percent), Minnesota (91 percent) and Iowa (89.4 percent). For this fact-check, Heilig guided us to David Hinojosa of the San Antonio- based Intercultural Development Research Association, which has tracked high school completion rates for decades. By email, Hinojosa pointed out the group’s October 2017 report stating that through the 2016-17 school year, the state’s attrition rate, not counting charter schools, hovered around 24 percent to 25 percent for five years--down from 33 percent in the mid-1980s. \"Texas public schools are failing to graduate one out of every four\" high school \"students,\" the report says. To our inquiry, state education officials didn’t have a comparable attrition rate for 2016-17. DeEtta Culbertson, a TEA spokeswoman, emailed us agency information indicating that for 2015-16, the state calculated an attrition rate of 19.6 percent. Culbertson had no comment on the IDRA analysis. Our ruling Abbott said Texas ranks among \"the top five states in the nation for\" its \"high school graduation rate.\" Texas ranked No. 5 nationally for its 2015-16 graduation rate. Abbott was not talking about an alternate metric by which Texas in 2012-13 trailed 20 states for its share of students graduating compared to the number of ninth-grade students three years before. We rate his claim True. **TRUE** – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. Share the Facts 2018-03-02 20:53:21 UTC PolitiFact ![\\"PolitiFact\\"](\\" logo-big.jpg\\"/) 6 1 7 ![\\"PolitiFact](\\" true.png\\") PolitiFact Rating: True Says Texas ranks among the nation’s top five states for its high school graduation rate. Greg Abbott Governor of Texas Reporter Ken Herman\'s recording of the call. ![](\\" Austin, Texas Monday, February 19, 2018 2018-02-19 Read More info #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Truth-O-Meter article, \"Rick Perry says Texas has second-best high school graduation rate, No. 1 rate for minorities,\" PolitiFact Texas, June 19, 2015 Tables and map, National Center for Education Statistics, \"Public high school 4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR), by race/ethnicity and selected demographic characteristics for the United States, the 50 states, and the District of Columbia: School year 2015–16,\" Oct. 25, 2017; \"Public high school averaged freshman graduation rate (AFGR), by sex, race/ethnicity, and state or jurisdiction: 2012-13,\" January 2016; \"Adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR) for public high school students, by state: 2014–15,\" undated map with web links to spreadsheets (accessed Feb. 20 and 23, 2018) Email, David Hinojosa, national director of policy, Intercultural Development Research Association, Feb. 20, 2018 Report, \"Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2016-17,\" Intercultural Development Research Association, October 2017 Email (excerpted), Lauren Callahan, media relations and social media manager, Texas Education Agency Feb. 21, 2018 Web page, \"Pocket Edition,\" TEA, undated (accessed Feb. 22, 2018) Document, \"Attrition Rates,\" TEA (received by email from DeEtta Culbertson, information specialist, TEA, Feb. 23, 2018) ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by W. Gardner Selby ![](\\" ![](\\" Ken Paxton stated on October 25, 2018 in a TV ad: Says Ken Paxton \"shut down the world’s largest human trafficking marketplace.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • November 1, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on October 22, 2018 in a rally for Republican candidates in Houston: Says Beto O’Rourke \"voted to shield MS-13 gang members from deportation.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • October 25, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Beto O\'Rourke stated on October 16, 2018 in a debate televised from San Antonio: Says \"only one other senator from either party over the last 25 years\" has \"a worse record on bipartisanship\" than Ted Cruz. ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By W. Gardner Selby • October 18, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Alexander Strenger stated on October 1, 2018 in response cited in an interactive voter guide: Says 60 percent of Austin’s \"waterways are found to be contaminated with fecal matter and deemed unsafe to swim.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • October 16, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Beto O\'Rourke stated on September 29, 2018 in an Austin rally: Says that in Texas, \"you can be too gay to adopt\" a foster child \"who needs a loving home.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • October 4, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ted Cruz stated on September 21, 2018 in a debate at Southern Methodist University: Says Beto O’Rourke described police as \"modern-day Jim Crow.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • September 25, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Beto O\'Rourke stated on September 21, 2018 in a debate at Southern Methodist University: Says he \"did not try to leave the scene of the accident\" that led to his arrest for driving while intoxicated. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • September 25, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Texans Are stated on September 12, 2018 in a TV ad: Says Beto O’Rourke voted \"against body armor for Texas sheriffs patrolling the border.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By W. Gardner Selby • September 13, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ken Paxton stated on August 26, 2018 in an interview on Fox & Friends: Says Texas has \"had over 600,000 crimes committed by illegals since 2011. Over 1,200 homicides.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • September 7, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Greg Abbott stated on August 30, 2018 in a TV ad: Says Texas \"high school graduation rates are at all-time highs.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By W. Gardner Selby • September 7, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ted Cruz stated on September 4, 2018 in a video: Says Beto O’Rourke said he’s grateful that people are burning or desecrating the American flag. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By W. Gardner Selby • September 5, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ted Cruz stated on August 28, 2018 in an online video ad: Says Beto O’Rourke \"voted against\" Hurricane Harvey \"tax relief.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • August 29, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" M.J. Hegar stated on August 21, 2018 in an interview on Spectrum Cable\'s \"Capital Tonight\": Says U.S. Rep. John Carter \"hasn’t held a town hall in five years.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • August 29, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Beto O\'Rourke stated on July 26, 2018 in an ad in the Houston Defender: Says \"black Americans have 10 times less wealth than white Americans.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By W. Gardner Selby • August 23, 2018 ![](\\" ![](\\" Silvestre Reyes stated on May 22, 2012 in a TV ad: Says Beto O’Rourke \"has a criminal record that includes DWI and burglary arrests.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By W. Gardner Selby • August 22, 2018 ### Greg Abbott says Texas ranks among 5 top states for its high-school graduation rate * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on September 21, 2024 in a video: Sen. JD Vance admitted he has a ‘rent-a-dog’ from the Trump campaign to make him “seem like a dog person.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Samantha Putterman • September 22, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 20, 2024 in an X post: First lady Jill Biden led a Cabinet meeting for President Joe Biden and her signature appears on presidential stationery. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Samantha Putterman • September 21, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on September 19, 2024 in a video: Video claims to show Donald Trump in an interview with Diddy ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • September 20, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 18, 2024 in X posts: “iPhones exploding in Lebanon blowing up random people.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 20, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on September 18, 2024 in a TikTok video: “Attorney General Merrick Garland just vetoed charging Ryan Routh with attempted assassination” of Donald Trump. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 20, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 14, 2024 in a Facebook post: \"Taylor Swift unexpectedly lost a $125 million brand contract after a massive advertising campaign” endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • September 20, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 12, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: “Portugal lanza monedas de 7 euros para honrar al legendario futbolista Cristiano Ronaldo”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Marta Campabadal Graus • September 20, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on September 12, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Former President Donald Trump “started out with $400 million on a silver platter and then filed for bankruptcy six times.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 20, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 15, 2024 in posts: Ryan Routh\'s Instagram bio says he is a \"proud LGBTQ+ member\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Grace Abels • September 20, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 17, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Chiefs\' Coach Andy Reid criticizes Taylor Swift: ‘You’re not a good role model.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 20, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. Sign me up #### Offices District of Columbia 1800 I Street NW Washington, DC 20006 Florida 801 3rd St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-9494 #### People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis #### State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin #### About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters #### RSS Feeds * Recent Articles and Fact-checks * Recent Fact-checks Suggest a Fact-check #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Copyright ©All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ![\\"\\"](\\" ✕ * * *
Says Texas ranks among the nation’s top five states for its high school graduation rate