Which Detroit High Schools Send the Most Grads to College? Here’s the List!

In Detroit, Charter Schools Dominate College Enrollment Rankings, Class of 2025 Data Shows.

When it comes to sending students to college, the schools in Detroit that fare the best – by far – are almost all charter schools.

MLive recently did a story that looked at the most recent data, from the Class of 2025, and it looked at which high schools in Michigan had the most graduates enroll in college within six months of graduation.

When you look at the data from the City of Detroit, the top open-enrollment schools are charter schools. The top nine in the rankings are all charter schools, and 15 of the top 17 schools.

Which Schools in Detroit Fared the Best for College Enrollment?

Here are the top 10 schools in Detroit, with the percentage of graduates from the Class of 2025 that enrolled in college within six months of graduation:

The rankings did not look at the selective-enrollment schools in Detroit – it only looked at the schools that must accept every student who wishes to enroll. By law, all charter schools in Michigan are open-enrollment schools.

Charter Schools Are Beating State Averages and Trends in Michigan.

According to the MLive story, “Michigan’s overall rate of college enrollment has been decreasing for more than a decade.” The statewide average for college enrollment within six months of graduation was 54.6%. Of that number, 35.6% enrolled in a four-year institution, while 19% enrolled in a two-year institution.

It’s noteworthy that four charter schools in Detroit (where rates of economically disadvantaged students are very high) topped the statewide average for college enrollment.

“This data is significant. High schools need to provide varied pathways to success for their students, and for students who have college as a goal, charter schools are leading the way in Detroit,” said Dan Quisenberry, President of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, the state charter school association.

Which Detroit Schools Rank the Best Both Academically and Athletically in 2025?

With 75% of its 2025 grads enrolled in college, Detroit Edison Public School Academy (DEPSA) ranked at the top of the list, as it does by most every other academic metric. DEPSA also has the highest SAT scores in the city (884.3), the highest high school graduation rate (98.3%), and a 100% college acceptance rate.

And athletically, no school in Detroit – and few in the entire state – can match DEPSA’s excellence (particularly in basketball). The Pioneers have won five state championships in girls’ basketball in the past decade and one in boys’ basketball.

DEPSA also had a run of four straight winners of the Miss Basketball award, given to the best high school girls’ basketball senior in the state. One of those winners, Rickea Jackson, went on to become a first-round pick in the WNBA, where she’s currently a star.

“DEPSA shows that you don’t have to sacrifice academic excellence for athletic excellence. You can excel at everything,” Quisenberry said.