States that spend less, have school choice, graduate more students, report finds 

Spending more on public schools appears to have little correlation with higher graduation rates, new research shows. 

Business Insider’s rankings of the 50 states’ graduation rates found that red states spending less than the national per-pupil average occupy nine of the top 13 spots. Those nine states also have school choice programs. 

New Jersey was the only high-spending state to crack the top 10. The blue state spends more than $27,000 per pupil and graduates nearly 92% of its students.

But Vermont, another blue state, spends nearly $29,000 per student and graduates just 82%, ranking 47th.

Statistics from the northwestern United States suggest education policy, not spending, likely has a greater influence on student success.

Idaho has nearly the same graduation rate, 82.5%, as neighboring Washington and Oregon, yet spends dramatically less – $11,000 per pupil, compared with more than $18,000 – than those states.

Of the bottom 10 states, only four have school choice programs. Two of them, Idaho and Wyoming, launched their programs after the 2024-25 school year, from which most states’ data was taken.

Similar dynamics appear in test scores. In recent years, low-spending red states such as Mississippi have risen in the rankings and now outperform high-spending states such as California and Illinois – and it’s not even close.

“Mississippi is kicking our a– in education and for way less money,” Bill Maher said last month about California. “We’re 37th in fourth-grade reading. They’re ninth.”

Mississippi spent about $12,300 per pupil in 2024 and graduated 89.2% of its students, ranking 16th nationally.

Kentucky, a politically divided purple state with a Democratic governor and Republican Legislature, took the top spot, graduating 93.6% of its students.

Two other purple states cracked the top 10: Virginia, which spends close to the national average of $17,600, and Wisconsin, a low-spending state with school choice. 

The remaining top spots went to West Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas and Utah. All are Republican-led states with school choice programs that spend less per pupil than the national average.

Kansas, a low-spending purple state, placed 14th with a graduation rate of 89.5%, followed by high-spending Massachusetts, which graduates 89.3% of its students.

Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation and senior fellow at Americans for Fair Treatment, said the results are “straightforward” and show why “we’re seeing such strong momentum for education freedom across the country.”

“School choice is a rising tide that lifts all boats,” he told The Lion in a message. “When families can choose, it creates healthy competition. Traditional public schools improve because they now have to compete for students (and the funding that follows them). This is exactly what we’ve seen play out in practice.”

DeAngelis cited Florida as an example. The state was plagued by low test scores for years, but after expanding school choice, “Florida now ranks in the top tier on multiple measures, including after demographic adjustments. And they achieved this while spending 27% less per student than the national average.” 

“Throwing more money at the problem doesn’t fix anything,” he added. “We’ve tried that for decades with disappointing results. What works is empowering parents with options, injecting competition and accountability into the system and letting funding follow the child instead of propping up a failing monopoly.” 

See the complete rankings here.