Graduation is right around the corner for more than 13,000 Gwinnett graduates, the culmination of 13 years of hard work during their K-12 academic careers, including three years affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s high school seniors make up the school district’s largest graduating class to date.
Graduation ceremonies for the district’s 24 diploma-granting high schools start with Phoenix HS on May 23 and wrap up on May 30 with Peachtree Ridge HS.
College, careers, military service, and travel are among the next stops for our 2022 graduates. In the fall, most seniors—77%—are headed to universities, colleges, and postsecondary schools in Georgia and around the country. Most students (84.6%) will attend school in Georgia, with 85% enrolling in a four-year college or university and the balance attending a two-year college or technical college. Among the students heading out of state, 70 will matriculate at one of the eight prestigious Ivy League schools. We have more than 1,400 students (10% of grads) attending one of the top 50 schools in the country or one of the top 25 public colleges or universities in the U.S. (based on U.S. News & World Report ranking).
And our seniors will have financial help to complete their education. As of April 2022, our graduates have been offered more than $185.7 million in academic, athletic, and military scholarships, with 16.5% of college-bound graduates offered at least one scholarship. Academic achievement earned offers of more than $127.5 million, including large, multi-year scholarships. What’s significant is the number and amount of scholarships that were not yet announced when senior information was compiled in April, including HOPE awards (typically, about a third of graduates), and National Merit Scholars. Student athletes earned more than $54.6 million in athletic scholarships.
Gwinnett grads continue to answer the call to military service. The nation’s military service academies offered appointments to nine young leaders, representing $3.5 million in scholarships. A total of 356 seniors will serve their country through military service after graduation, including cadets who honed their leadership skills in Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) units available at 14 GCPS high schools.
More than 1,850 students will enter the workforce after high school, many armed with credentials and certificates earned through our career and technical education programs and sought after by local employers. Students graduating from the district’s Academy high schools—Berkmar, Central Gwinnett, Discovery, Lanier, Meadowcreek, Shiloh, and South Gwinnett—complete high school with valuable exposure to college majors of interest and experience in potential careers. Another 800+ seniors have other post-graduation plans—from mission work to “gap year” travel.
A record-breaking number of seniors are graduating with a grade percent average of 90 or better. Among our 4,237 Honor Graduates are each school’s highest ranking students—the valedictorian (1st in class) and the salutatorian (2nd in class). More than half of our seniors—6,866—experienced the challenge and rigor of college-level Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses during high school, with more than half (3,496) of those students earning a 3 or better (5-point scale) on optional AP exams to earn college credit or advanced placement in college classes. Another group getting a head start on college? The 1,521 Gwinnett grads who participated in the state’s dual-enrollment program, earning both high school and college credit.
Congratulations to our graduates and their families! Seniors, we wish you the very best in the future you create!