Graduation Rate
Students Who Were Homeless Led Hawaii Subgroup Gains
Their graduation rate rose 15.0 points from 2018 to 2025, the largest gain among 19 matched Hawaii subgroups.
Hawaii
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Hawaii, grounded in Hawaii Department of Education data.
Hawaii's Grade 9 Total Is 20% Larger Than Kindergarten
The 2025-26 grade 9 total exceeded prior-year grade 8 by 1,283 students, but aggregate counts cannot identify who entered or from where.
Hawaii Graduation Gender Gap Fell to a Series Low
The female-male graduation-rate gap fell to 2.9 points in 2025, the lowest in Hawaii's 2010-2025 package series.
Two in Five Students in Foster Care Do Not Graduate on Time
Hawaii's foster care four-year graduation rate fell 15.9 points since 2018 while every other vulnerable group compared here improved, opening the widest equity gap in the state.
Hawaii Traditional Enrollment Fell to 150,280
County-operated schools lost 3,702 students in 2025-26, the largest annual decline since 2021, while charter enrollment rose by 277.
More Coverage
District Spotlight
The Waianae Coast: Ten Schools Where Nearly Half the Students Don't Show Up
Ten schools on Oahu's Waianae Coast have chronic absenteeism rates between 42% and 55%, more than double the state average, driven by deep poverty and limited healthcare access.
District Spotlight
Farrington High Reported 72.5%, Sixth From Bottom
Farrington High's 2025 graduation rate ranked sixth from the bottom statewide, with large race, service-population and gender gaps.
Demographics
Two in Five Pacific Islander Students in Hawaii Are Chronically Absent
Pacific Islander students in Hawaii have a 40% chronic absenteeism rate (29 percentage points higher than Asian students), and the gap has widened since the pandemic.
Equity
68%: Pacific Islanders Face Hawaii's Widest Graduation Gap
Pacific Islander students graduate at 68.4% in Hawaii, a 17pp gap below the state average that has barely moved in nine years of tracking.
Covid Impact
22 Hawaii Schools Have Returned to Pre-COVID Attendance Levels. The Other 269 Are Still Waiting.
Twenty-two Hawaii schools have fully recovered to pre-COVID chronic absenteeism rates, led by charter schools. But 133 schools remain 10 or more percentage points worse than 2019.
Graduation Rate
90% Survival Rate, With an Asterisk
Hawaii's 9th-to-12th survival rate hits 90% for the first time, but a 2024 reclassification of students who receive special education inflated the count. The real gain is smaller.
Demographics
At Nearly 9 in 10 Hawaii Schools, Native Hawaiian Students Miss More School Than Their Peers
Native Hawaiian students are chronically absent at higher rates than the overall student body at 88.7% of Hawaii schools, with a 25-point gap versus Asian students that has widened since COVID.
District Spotlight
Maunaloa Elementary: From 63% Chronic Absenteeism to 2% on a Remote Molokai Island
Maunaloa Elementary on Molokai dropped from 63% chronic absenteeism in 2022 to 2% in 2025, the second-lowest rate in Hawaii and 13 points better than its own pre-pandemic baseline.
Graduation Rate
86% and Stuck: Why Hawaii's Graduation Rate Stopped Climbing
Hawaii's graduation rate flatlined near 86% after a decade of gains. A 17-point Pacific Islander gap reveals who the plateau leaves behind.
Equity
Native Hawaiian Graduation Rate Falls to 80.3%
Native Hawaiian students lost 3.2 percentage points since 2021 while the state held steady, opening the widest equity gap in nine years of data.
