Arizona Education Progress Meter 2025 Updates
Education Forward Arizona, in partnership with Center for the Future of Arizona, recently released its annual update for the Arizona Education Progress Meter. This nonpartisan data tool is used as a guide to show the growth needed to reach our state’s Achieve60AZ goal based on eight key indicators spanning early childhood, K-12, and postsecondary education.
Highlights from 2025’s New Arizona Education Progress Meter Updates
Two bright spots in the data include the increases in Quality Early Learning and Attainment rates. Research shared by First Things First, Arizona’s Early Childhood Agency demonstrates that access to quality early learning provides the greatest return on investment in the K-12 pipeline. With one-third of Arizona’s youngest learners participating in high-quality early learning settings, these children are better prepared for kindergarten. At the same time, families gain opportunities to fully engage in the workforce, knowing their children are in safe and academically enriching environments. Just two years ago, this indicator was at only 21%, showing an 11-point increase in a relatively short period. Much of this increased access was made possible by federal dollars focused on quality early learning programs. There is concern that this number could be negatively impacted as that funding dries up.
In addition, the 1% increase in postsecondary attainment translates to approximately 30,000 degrees, certificates and licensures for Arizonans, which leads to improved quality of life for individuals, their families, and communities, as well as positive social and fiscal impacts.
Increases in the high school graduation rate indicator is an encouraging sign for Arizona; however, the state needs to raise that number significantly to be competitive with other states across the country.
Read our latest Education Explainer to learn more about the importance of high school graduation.
Explore The Data
For more details on the methodology behind each metric, visit The Education Forward Arizona Progress Meter, where you can explore the data at the state, county, city, district and school levels.
Arizona has Everything To Gain When We Invest in Education
While the positive increases across multiple key metrics are a step in the right direction, additional progress will need to be made at an accelerated pace in order to reach the full economic potential for individuals and communities across the state. According to the Billions to Gain Report, a 20 percent increase in enrollment would yield billions of dollars in social and economic impact for our state. But this isn’t enough. We still need an additional 500,000 credentials to reach the Achieve60AZ goal.
At Education Forward Arizona, we believe when individuals continue their education and training beyond high school, Arizona has Everything to Gain.
