Graphic provided by BCSC
Projected graduation rates for BCSC students are expected to be the highest in at least 20 years, and preliminary data shows they are expected to climb even higher.
School board members received data this week showing the graduation rate for the class of 2025 is expected to be 92.4%, Superintendent Chad Phillips said. Projected graduation rates for classes of 2026, 2027 and 2028 are 95.5%, 95.7% and 93% respectively.
“We see the real possibility that we can get close to 96% in the next three years in our graduation rate,” Phillips said.
The official graduation rate for the class of 2025 will come from the Indiana Department and Education between now and January. Phillips said the projections are based upon information provided by Director of Secondary Education Charles Edwards and through quarterly meetings with cohort teams.
The 92.4% figure is up 10 points from just three years ago and two points higher than 2024’s graduation rate. It’s also the highest graduation rate the district has had in at least 20 years, when the state began using its current methodology for determining graduation rates.
BCSC credited the district’s team cohort model — which provides personalized guidance for all four years of a student’s high school experience — for the continued progress. The district began using the cohort models during the 2023-24 school year. Graduation rates between 2023 and 2024 went from 83.4% to 90.1%.
“Our staff have so much more time to invest in students and help them be successful over the course of their high school careers in the cohort model with that additional one-on-one time,” Edwards said. “Time is what is making a difference.”
Phillips described the 2028 rate of the current freshman class as a “range of possibilities,” considering it’s still early in the cohort’s high school career.
“One of the cool parts of this is, as we see this over the next four years, we can actually visually see the work the cohort teams and the teachers and the support staff are doing to make that 93% as high as the other ones,” said Trustee Dale Nowlin, District 4.
School Board Member Jason Major, District 1, observed that: “I think it’s important to note this is the first time we’ve seen a good projection like this that’s been presented early rather than late.”
“I’m glad we’re starting to do this now and show it because this is an excellent trend and it helps just prove that things we’re doing are right,” Major said.
Although not included in the projections, 2029 is the first year for Indiana’s new diploma requirements. The new diploma replaces the current Core 40, Technical Honors and Academic Honors diplomas, and is intended to maximize flexibility for students.
Students will be able to personalize learning pathways and experiences, including with college courses taken while still in high school, as well as the ability to count internships, apprenticeships, military experience and other work-based learning toward their graduation requirements.
Students can add an Honors or Honors Plus seal, emphasizing college preparation, workforce readiness or enlistment in the armed forces.
Schools were technically able to opt-in to the new diplomas beginning this year, and although BCSC did not, the district is prepared to offer the new seals to students in the 2026 to 2028 cohorts should they want them, according to BCSC officials.
