Trump cites Native school graduation high, as better records help explain rise

In his message marking National Native American Heritage Month, Trump said the Bureau of Indian Education had reached its highest graduation rate in January, attributing the result to reforms, accountability and teaching.

The bureau announced the figure in January 2026, but it related to the class of 2025. It said the graduation rate at bureau-funded high schools had risen from 51% in 2015 to 79% in 2025, a gain of 28 percentage points. The figure covers those schools, not all Native American and Alaska Native pupils.

The measure tracks students who earn a regular high-school diploma within four years of entering ninth grade. In 2023–24, the bureau reported that 1,645 of 2,202 students in the adjusted cohort graduated, a rate of 74.7%.

The Associated Press reported that some of the longer-term increase reflects more accurate reporting. Schools had sometimes counted pupils who transferred elsewhere as dropouts, and the bureau began standardising data collection in 2018. How much of the reported rise is due to improved records, rather than changes in educational outcomes, has not been quantified.

Local educators also point to changes in teaching. At Chief Leschi Schools in Washington state, administrators told AP that career and technical courses had helped keep students engaged. The school’s reported four-year graduation rate rose from 53% in 2019 to 87% in 2025.

Other schools continue to face difficulties. AP reported that the bureau-operated high school serving the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in South Dakota had graduated fewer than 60% of students on time in recent years. Tribal chairman Peter Lengkeek described the school as chronically understaffed and in need of repairs.