South Carolina's Boys Are Catching Up, But the Gender Gap in Graduation Remains Nearly 7 Points

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT

South Carolina's gender gap in graduation rates peaked at 12.2 percentage points in 2019. Male students graduated at 75.3%, female students at 87.4%, a chasm that was more than double the national average of roughly 5 points. One in four boys who entered ninth grade four years earlier did not finish on time.

Six years later, that gap has narrowed to 6.9 points. Male students crossed 83% for the first time in 2025, reaching 83.3%. Female students crossed 90% for the first time, reaching 90.2%. The convergence is real, but it came almost entirely from one direction: boys improved 8.0 percentage points since 2019, while girls improved 2.8.

The anatomy of the gap

The gender gap has moved in two distinct phases. From 2016 to 2019, it widened dramatically (from 9.3 to 12.2 points) as female rates held steady in the high 80s while male rates dropped from 78.1% to 75.3%. The 2018-2019 period was the nadir for boys: three consecutive years below 76%.

Since 2019, the pattern reversed. Male students gained ground in every single year, climbing from 75.3% to 83.3%, a continuous six-year improvement streak. Female students also improved, but at a slower pace, from 87.4% to 90.2%.

By the numbers: 83.3% of South Carolina's male students graduated in 2025, up from 75.3% in 2019. That improvement translated to roughly 2,500 additional male graduates per year compared to the 2019 rate applied to the current cohort of 32,252.

District gender gaps: where it is widest

The statewide 6.9-point gap masks much wider gaps at the district level. Among districts with at least 300 students in the graduation cohort, Lexington 2^↗ and Orangeburg^↗ each posted 12.2-point gender gaps in 2025, matching the state's 2019 peak. At Orangeburg, female students graduated at 86.5% while male students managed only 74.3%.

Richland 1^↗ had a 10.6-point gap. York 3 (Rock Hill)^↗ showed 9.8. Spartanburg 5^↗, despite a strong overall rate of 91.1%, had a 9.3-point gap between its female (95.8%) and male (86.4%) graduates.

Even districts celebrated for their overall performance carry significant gender gaps. Greenville^↗ had a 6.0-point gap, Charleston^↗ 6.9. Horry^↗ at 6.1. The pattern holds across geography, demographics, and performance level: wherever you look in South Carolina, boys graduate at lower rates than girls.

What closing looks like

At the current pace of narrowing (roughly 1 point per year since 2019) the gender gap would reach parity around 2032. But that assumes boys continue gaining at their recent rate, which is unlikely to hold as the improvements get harder. The jump from 75% to 83% often comes from better credit recovery programs, expanded summer school, and improved ninth-grade transition supports. The jump from 83% to 90% typically requires reaching students with deeper barriers: behavioral issues, attendance problems, disconnection from school culture.

The boys who remain below the graduation line in 2025 are, by definition, the hardest to reach. South Carolina's 6.9-point gender gap is narrower than it was, but it is still 2 points wider than the national average and represents roughly 5,400 male students who did not graduate on time in the class of 2025.

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York 3 (Rock Hill) - EdTribune SC - South Carolina Education Data

South Carolina's Boys Are Catching Up, But the Gender Gap in Graduation Remains Nearly 7 Points

The anatomy of the gap

District gender gaps: where it is widest

What closing looks like