Reuters: U.S.: High school graduation rate hits 78.2 percent, highest since 1974

Reuters: U.S. Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

High school graduation rate hits 78.2 percent, highest since 1974 Jan 22nd 2013, 23:17 Tweet Share this Email Print Student Tiandre Turner makes his way to class at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, September 19, 2012. Credit: Reuters/John Gress CHICAGO | Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:17pm EST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Graduation rates at high schools have improved to their highest level in nearly 40 years, driven by a surge in the percentage of Hispanic students earning diplomas, a government study released on Tuesday showed. Some 78.2 percent of U.S. high schoolers completed their studies and earned a diploma within four years in the 2009-2010 school year, according to U.S. Department of Education data. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said it was the best showing in on-time graduation rates since 1974, and he was especially encouraged by the improvement among Hispanic students, whose graduation rates surged 10 percent to 71.4 percent between 2006 and 2010, the last year for which data was available. While hailing the rebound, Duncan said dropout rates remained "unsustainably high for a knowledge-based economy." Across the United States, four-year graduation rates were highest for students of Asian and Pacific-Islander heritage at 93.5 percent, followed by white students at 83 percent, and Hispanic students at 71.4 percent, according to the study. American Indian and Alaskan Native students graduated at a rate of 69.1 percent, followed by black students at 66.1 percent, it showed. Vermont had the highest four-year graduation rate in the country in 2010 with 91.4 percent of high school students in the state earning a diploma in four years. Nevada had the lowest four-year graduation rate, with 57.8 percent of high school students earning a diploma on time, the department said. (Reporting by James B. Kelleher; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and David Gregorio) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions