Indiana's all-time high graduation rate of 91.8% is not being driven by a handful of elite districts pulling up the average. It is happening across the state.

In 2025, 173 of Indiana's school corporations with graduation cohorts of 50 or more posted rates of 95% or higher. That is 56.4% of all qualifying corporations — more than double the proportion from a decade ago.

Twenty-four of those corporations graduated every student in their cohort — a perfect 100%. Another 149 were between 95% and 99.9%. The cluster at the top of the distribution is dense: the typical Indiana school corporation now graduates well above 90%.

A decade of broadening success

The number of corporations above 95% has been climbing steadily, but the acceleration since 2022 is notable. In 2022, the trough year for Indiana's overall rate, just 104 corporations cleared 95%. Three years later, the count is 173. That means 69 additional corporations crossed the threshold in three years, the fastest expansion in the data.

The total number of qualifying corporations has remained relatively stable at around 307, meaning the improvement reflects genuine rate increases rather than small districts dropping out of the count.

More at their best than their worst

One hundred corporations posted their all-time high graduation rate in 2025. Just 13 were at their all-time low. The ratio, roughly 8 to 1, says something about how broad this improvement actually is.

The 13 at their all-time low include some well-documented cases: Gary Community at 57.8%, along with a mix of smaller corporations and alternative education providers. But they are the exception. For the vast majority of Indiana school districts, 2025 was either the best year on record or close to it.

The 240 club

Beyond the 173 at 95% or above, a total of 240 corporations (78% of those with qualifying cohorts) graduated at least 90% of their students. Only 26 corporations fell below 80%.

The breadth of success at the 90%+ level makes Indiana's statewide rate more robust than it might appear. When 78% of districts individually exceed the national average, the state rate is not being inflated by a few outliers. It reflects a system-wide pattern.

The waiver question

A 95% graduation rate means nearly all students finished. It does not say what they learned. Indiana's waiver diploma pathway, which lets students graduate without meeting all standard requirements, has been expanding. The state-federal rate gap has widened. Some of these 173 corporations may owe part of their 95%+ showing to alternative pathways rather than the full Core 40 or Academic Honors requirements.

Still, 90 corporations cleared 95% a decade ago. Now 173 do, and 100 hit all-time highs in the same year. That is not a policy artifact. It is a statewide pattern.

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