Correction (July 22, 2026): An earlier version stopped at the 2025 accountability file, mislabeled its 87.9% rate as the official 2024-25 figure, compared different district panels, and displayed the package's 87.25% values as 87.3% instead of the analysis output's 87.2%. The current package includes the 2026 accountability file for the 2024-25 school year: the statewide rate is 90.8%, 141 districts report, 81 are at or above 90%, and one is below 70%. Among the same 23 districts present in both the 2014 and 2026 files, all 23 improved. External numeric policy and national-comparison claims outside the state data contract were removed. The article and charts now use those definitions consistently.

The 2014 accountability file reported a 73.8% four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate for Mississippi. The 2026 accountability file, covering the 2024-25 school year, reports 90.8%. That is a 17.0 percentage point increase.

The climb, in two acts

Mississippi's gains came in distinct phases. From the 2014 to 2019 accountability files, the state added 9.4 percentage points — from 73.8% to 83.2%, with one dip along the way.

The package has no 2020 accountability file. The 2021 file reported 87.2%, 4.1 points above the 2019 file. [Unresourced:] This series alone cannot separate changes in graduation policy, cohort composition, or student outcomes as explanations for that jump.

The rate held at 87.2% in the 2022 file, then climbed to 88.1% and 88.8%, dipped to 87.9% in 2025, and rose to 90.8% in 2026. The latest rate is 3.5 points above the 2021 file.

The district story behind the numbers

Twenty-three districts have data in both the 2014 and 2026 accountability files, and all 23 improved. This endpoint panel is much smaller than the latest statewide count and should not be read as representing every district.

Coahoma County^↗ET posted the largest gain in that comparable panel: from 51.7% to 97.3%, a 45.6-point improvement. Tunica County^↗ET climbed from 57.3% to 89.9%, a 32.6-point gain. Laurel rose from 54.0% to 86.5%, a 32.5-point gain.

The graduation package establishes those changes but does not include the demographic or program data needed to explain why they occurred.

Where Mississippi stands now

The 141 districts in the 2026 accountability file spread across the graduation rate spectrum:

• 30 districts graduate 95% or more of their students
• 51 districts fall between 90% and 95%
• 52 districts land in the 80-89% range
• Only 8 districts remain below 80%, and just 1 falls below 70%

In 2014, 11 of the 23 comparable districts fell below 70%; none does in the 2026 file. One of those 23 exceeded 90% in 2014, compared with 11 in 2026. Across the full latest file, Forest Municipal is the only district below 70%, at 68.5%, while 81 districts are at or above 90%.

The 2026 package row also reports a 7.0% statewide dropout rate.

The latest jump

The 2025 accountability file covered 2023-24 and reported 87.9%. The 2026 file covers 2024-25 and reports 90.8%, a 2.9-point increase. That rebound changes the earlier plateau narrative: the latest release is the high point of the package series, not a second year of decline.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.