Graduation Data: County vs. District
Graduation rates vary considerably whether given on the state, county, or district level. The New Jersey education department each year reports graduation rates on a county-by-county level by computing the ratio of total graduates to fall enrollment when those graduates were high school freshmen. Although this year’s report isn’t yet available, Education Week used this methodology to calculate the countywide and districtwide rates using the raw data used to produce New Jersey’s most recent school report card. The table shows the great variance that occurs between some urban and suburban districts--a fact some observers say is glossed over by the countywide rates. Department officials, however, point out that student mobility makes it impossible to calculate a true graduation rate over four years because the state doesn’t currently know how many of the students who leave a district over the years transfer or drop out.
County | District | 1995-96 Rate* | 1995-96 Rate |
Camden | Cherry Hill Township | 82% | 102% |
Camden | Haddonfield Borough | 82 | 100 |
Camden | Collingswood Borough | 82 | 98 |
Camden | Haddon Township | 82 | 94 |
Camden | Eastern Camden County Regional | 82 | 90 |
Camden | Audubon Borough | 82 | 89 |
Camden | Haddon Heights Borough | 82 | 89 |
Camden | Lower Camden County Regional | 82 | 86 |
Camden | Sterling High School | 82 | 86 |
Camden | Gloucester City | 82 | 84 |
Camden | Pennsauken Township | 82 | 84 |
Camden | Black Horse Pike Regional | 82 | 81 |
Camden | Camden City | 82 | 52 |
Camden | Oaklyn Borough | 82 | N/A |
Mercer | Hopewell Valley Regional | 82% | 104% |
Mercer | Princeton Regional | 82 | 103 |
Mercer | Lawrence Township | 82 | 94 |
Mercer | West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional | 82 | 93 |
Mercer | East Windsor Regional | 82 | 92 |
Mercer | Hamilton Township | 82 | 88 |
Mercer | Trenton City | 82 | 31 |
Mercer | Ewing Township | 82 | N/A |
* The number of graduates in each county was calculated from the sum of fall senior enrollments multiplied by the percentage of those students who graduated later that year.
NOTE: Some rates are more than 100% in part because the number of graduates may include transfer students and others not included in fall enrollment counts.
SOURCE: New Jersey Department of Education.