acalculator

Graduation calculator by birthday

Type a birthday and your state’s kindergarten cutoff date (September 1 is the most common). The graduation calculator by birthday gives the year the student starts kindergarten, the high school class year, the college class year, and the grade on any date.

Your numbers

High school class of
2033

Born June 15, 2015, the student graduates high school with the class of 2033.

Starts kindergarten
fall 2020
Age at graduation (June 1)
17
College class of
2037
Grade on the date
6th grade

Answer for the example date Friday, October 2, 2026. It changes to today's date when the page loads.

High school class of: 2033. Born June 15, 2015, the student graduates high school with the class of 2033.

How to calculate

Finds the high school graduation year (class of) from a birthday and the kindergarten cutoff date, with the kindergarten start year, the college graduation year and the grade on a given date.

Example with the default inputs (Birthday June 15, 2015, Cutoff month September, Cutoff day 1, Years held back or skipped 0, Grade on this date October 2, 2026) on the example date Friday, October 2, 2026: Born June 15, 2015, the student graduates high school with the class of 2033.

Method: Kindergarten starts in the fall of the first school year in which the child is 5 on or before the cutoff date, plus any years held back or skipped; high school class of = that year + 13; college = + 4.

  • US schools: kindergarten, then grades 1 to 12, one grade a year, graduating in the spring (taken as June 1).
  • A cutoff from July to December falls in the fall the school year starts; January to June, in the following calendar year.
  • A school year runs from July 1 to June 30. States and districts set their own cutoffs and exceptions.
  • Birthdays and cutoffs compare by month and day: February 29 comes after February 28 in every year.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Birthday 2010-03-15, Cutoff month September, Cutoff day 1, Years held back or skipped 0 gives Starts kindergarten fall 2015, High school class of 2028, Age at graduation (June 1) 18, College class of 2032.Source: NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: a child enters kindergarten if 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, such as “5 on or before 9/01” in Alabama, Illinois and Texas; Connecticut January 1; Delaware and Hawaii July 31), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-02)
  2. Birthday 2010-10-01, Cutoff month September, Cutoff day 1, Years held back or skipped 0 gives Starts kindergarten fall 2016, High school class of 2029, Age at graduation (June 1) 18.Source: NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: a child enters kindergarten if 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, such as “5 on or before 9/01” in Alabama, Illinois and Texas; Connecticut January 1; Delaware and Hawaii July 31), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-02)
  3. Birthday 2010-09-01, Cutoff month September, Cutoff day 1, Years held back or skipped 0 gives Starts kindergarten fall 2015, High school class of 2028, Age at graduation (June 1) 17.Source: NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: a child enters kindergarten if 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, such as “5 on or before 9/01” in Alabama, Illinois and Texas; Connecticut January 1; Delaware and Hawaii July 31), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-02)
  4. Birthday 2010-12-15, Cutoff month January, Cutoff day 1, Years held back or skipped 0 gives Starts kindergarten fall 2015, High school class of 2028.Source: NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: a child enters kindergarten if 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, such as “5 on or before 9/01” in Alabama, Illinois and Texas; Connecticut January 1; Delaware and Hawaii July 31), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-02)
  5. Birthday 2015-06-15, Cutoff month September, Cutoff day 1, Years held back or skipped 0, Grade on this date 2026-10-02 gives Starts kindergarten fall 2020, High school class of 2033, Grade on the date 6th grade.Source: NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: a child enters kindergarten if 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, such as “5 on or before 9/01” in Alabama, Illinois and Texas; Connecticut January 1; Delaware and Hawaii July 31), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-02)
  6. Birthday 2010-03-15, Cutoff month September, Cutoff day 1, Years held back or skipped 1 gives Starts kindergarten fall 2016, High school class of 2029, Age at graduation (June 1) 19.Source: NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: a child enters kindergarten if 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, such as “5 on or before 9/01” in Alabama, Illinois and Texas; Connecticut January 1; Delaware and Hawaii July 31), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-02)

How it works

The rule, written out:

  1. The cutoff is a month M and day D. For the school year that starts in the fall of year Y, the cutoff date is M/D of year Y when M is July to December, and M/D of year Y + 1 when M is January to June.
  2. The child starts kindergarten in the fall of the first year Y in which they are 5 on or before that cutoff date. With birthday month and day (m, d) and birth year y, compared as month then day: for a cutoff in July to December, Y = y + 5 if (m, d) is on or before (M, D), else y + 6; for a cutoff in January to June, Y = y + 4 if (m, d) is on or before (M, D), else y + 5.
  3. Years held back or skipped are added: kindergarten year K = Y + adjustment.
  4. High school class of = K + 13 (kindergarten plus grades 1 to 12, graduating in the spring).
  5. College class of = high school year + 4.
  6. Age at graduation = the age in whole years on June 1 of the graduation year: class year − y, minus 1 if the birthday (m, d) is after June 1.
  7. Grade on a date: the school year runs July 1 to June 30, so a date in July to December is in the school year starting that year, and a date in January to June in the one that started the year before (S). The grade is g = S − K: below 0 “not in school yet (kindergarten starts in fall K)”, 0 “kindergarten”, 1 to 12 “1st grade” to “12th grade”, above 12 “finished high school (class of K + 13)”.

Rules

  • Birthdays from 1900-01-01 to 2100-12-31. The cutoff day must exist in its month (February 29 is allowed); otherwise there is no answer. Dates are compared by month and day, so a February 29 birthday counts as after February 28.
  • The adjustment is a whole number from −3 to +3.
  • The grade date is optional; without it the grade is left out.

Output format. Years as plain text with no thousands separator (“2028”; kindergarten as “fall 2015”); the age as a whole number; the grade as text, such as “6th grade”, “kindergarten”, or “not in school yet (kindergarten starts in fall 2027)”.

Worked examples by hand

Born March 15, 2010, September 1 cutoff. 5 on March 15, 2015, before September 1, 2015: kindergarten 2015, class of 2028, age 18 on June 1, 2028, college class of 2032.

Born October 1, 2010. October 1 is after September 1, so kindergarten 2016, class of 2029, age 18.

Born September 1, 2010. On the cutoff counts: kindergarten 2015, class of 2028, age 17 (the birthday is after June 1).

Born December 15, 2010, January 1 cutoff. The cutoff for the fall 2015 year is January 1, 2016; December 15 is after January 1 in month-day order, so Y = 2010 + 5 = 2015, class of 2028.

Born June 15, 2015, on October 2, 2026. Kindergarten 2020 (class of 2033). October 2026 is in the school year starting 2026: grade 2026 − 2020 = 6th grade.

Born March 15, 2010, held back 1 year. Kindergarten 2015 + 1 = 2016, class of 2029, age 19.

Other questions people ask

How do I work out my graduation year from my birthday?

Find the fall you started kindergarten: the first school year in which you were 5 on or before the cutoff date. Add 13 (kindergarten plus grades 1 to 12). Born March 15, 2010 with a September 1 cutoff: kindergarten in fall 2015, class of 2028.

What if my birthday is right after the cutoff?

Then you wait a year. Born October 1, 2010 with a September 1 cutoff, you were not yet 5 on September 1, 2015, so kindergarten started in fall 2016 and you graduate with the class of 2029.

What if my birthday is on the cutoff date?

Most state rules say 5 “on or before” the cutoff, so a birthday on the cutoff day counts. Born September 1, 2010: kindergarten in fall 2015, class of 2028, at age 17.

What kindergarten cutoff does my state use?

It varies. NCES Table 5.3 (2018) lists September 1 for many states, such as Alabama, Illinois and Texas; Delaware and Hawaii used July 31, Colorado October 1, and Connecticut January 1. Some states let districts decide. Check your state or district.

How does a January cutoff work?

A cutoff from January to June falls inside the school year, so a child must be 5 by that date in the next calendar year. With a January 1 cutoff, a child born December 15, 2010 is 5 by January 1, 2016, so starts kindergarten in fall 2015.

What if the student was held back or skipped a grade?

Type +1 for each year started late or repeated, or −1 for each grade skipped. Held back one year, the March 2010 birthday graduates with the class of 2029 instead of 2028.

What grade is my child in?

Type the date (it starts at today). The school year is taken as July 1 to June 30. A child born June 15, 2015 started kindergarten in fall 2020, so on October 2, 2026 is in 6th grade.