DES MOINES – Iowa’s high school graduation rate increased half of a percentage point, reaching 88.8% for the graduating class of 2025, according to figures released today by the Iowa Department of Education. This marks the highest graduation rate in the past five years and the first time since 2020 that Iowa’s graduation rate has exceeded prepandemic levels.

State data show 88.8% of students in Iowa’s class of 2025 (35,116 students) graduated within four years, increasing 0.5 percentage points from 88.3% for the class of 2024 (34,158 students). The class of 2024 was the first time graduation rates matched those before the pandemic for the class of 2019. Now, for the class of 2025, graduation rates are also up 0.5 percentage points from 88.3% for the class of 2019.

“In our class of 2025, nearly 1,000 more Iowans earned their high school diploma–a powerful accomplishment positioning them to learn more and earn more,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “Through the hard work of our students, families and educators, Iowa significantly narrowed graduation rate gaps experienced by students with disabilities, low-income backgrounds, and experiencing homelessness. These gains reflect Iowa’s collective focus on accountability for learner outcomes and our unwavering commitment to empowering all students to meet high expectations.”

In addition to overall gains, several student groups experienced significant graduation rate gains, including:

• Up 1.6 percentage points for students with disabilities (gains three times higher than Iowa’s overall gains)
• Up 1.0 percentage point for students with low-income backgrounds (gains two times higher than Iowa’s overall gains)
• Up 4.9 percentage points for students experiencing homelessness (gains ten times higher than Iowa’s overall gains)

Graduation rates for both male and female students increased, but the graduation rate for females continues to outpace that of males by 3.4 percentage points. Students who are Black or African American experienced gains five times higher than Iowa’s overall gains, up 2.5 percentage points. Graduation rates for students who are English learners declined 1.2 percentage points, underscoring the importance of the Iowa Department of Education’s continued investment in both current and future teachers supporting English learners through improved professional learning and preparation.

Iowa’s four-year graduation rate for the class of 2025 is higher than several of its neighboring states. Michigan, North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska recently reported 2025 graduation rates below Iowa’s, at 84.0%, 84.2%, 84.9%, 86.1% and 87.9%, respectively. Among other Midwestern states, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin reported 2025 graduation rates above Iowa’s, at 89.0%, 89.8%, 91.4% and 92.0%, respectively. Kansas and Ohio have not yet released 2025 four-year graduation rates.

Iowa graduation rates are calculated with a formula established by the U.S. Department of Education. Unique student identification numbers allow school districts to account for all ninth-grade students as they move through high school. At the state level, the method helps determine when a student graduates, even if the student has switched districts during high school.

Iowa’s five-year graduation rate — which reflects students who were part of a graduating class but took an extra year to finish high school — was 90.6% for the class of 2024, up by 0.7 percentage points from 89.9% for the class of 2023, and exceeding the prepandemic rate of 90.5% for the class of 2019.

Iowa’s annual dropout rate reflects the percent of students in grades 9-12 who dropped out of school during a single year. The annual dropout rate was 2.30% (3,574 students) for the 2024-25 school year, showing lower dropout rates from both last year (2.59% in the 2023-24 school year) and before the pandemic (2.61% in the 2018-19 school year).

More information on Iowa’s graduation rates and dropout rates, including rates by school district and student group, are available on the Department of Education’s Graduation Rates and Dropout Rates webpage.

DES MOINES — April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and it’s time to turn awareness into action. The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB) is partnering with the Central Iowa Traffic Safety Task Force (CITSTF), and law enforcement across the state April 6-10 to enforce Iowa’s Hands-Free Driving Law. The goal of this project is to educate drivers about the importance of driving distraction-free and to help drivers comply with the law going forward.

Iowa’s Hands-Free Driving Law went into effect with a warning period on July 1, 2025, and citations began being issued by law enforcement on January 1, 2026. Since January 1, 2026, over 2,400 citations and over 1,900 warnings have been issued. The law prohibits the use of electronic devices beyond a single touch while driving unless they are used in a hands-free mode. The passing of this law is a key factor that contributed to the historic low number of traffic fatalities recorded in 2025.

With so many ways to go hands-free, there’s a solution for every device and every vehicle. Some of the options to go hands-free include using voice commands, speaker phone, AUX cords, Bluetooth, or phone mounts.

Now a moving violation in Iowa, penalties for violating this law (Iowa Code 321.276) include a fine of $170. By enforcing this law and bringing awareness to the dangers of distracted driving, we hope to save lives and increase safety on Iowa roads. 

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau works with city, county, state, and local organizations to develop and implement strategies to reduce death and injury on Iowa roads using federally funded grants.

By Woody Gottburg (Radio Iowa)

Some farmers in northwest Iowa saw wind-driven fires rush across their fields this past weekend.

Iowa State University Extension field agronomist Leah Ten Napel says the damage to fields will vary. “There’s a lot of factors that are going to play into the consequences per each field. But I would say a lot of growers aren’t going to see too big of an impact when it comes to the upcoming planting season,” she says.

There weren’t any crops in the fields, but Ten Napel says there are concerns about the impact on nutrients for upcoming crops.  “As far as nutrients like nitrogen and sulfur, those do volatilize at very high temperatures. So if you had any of that sitting on the surface when there was a fire, that will be gone at this point,” she says.

Ten Napel says early applications could be safe. “If you applied some P&K fertilizers last fall, hopefully the moisture that we received over the winter or any crop residue that had some breakdown over the winter, those nutrients go into the soil and then they are not susceptible to loss when that fire occurs” Ten Napel says.

Ten Napel says anyone with concerns can call the local ISU Extension office to get their questions answered.