Graduation Rate Hits Record High For High School Students: Government Report
More U.S. high school students than ever are graduating on time, according to new information released by the research arm of the U.S. Education Department.
The percentage of students who graduated from high school within four years of starting ninth grade in the 2006-2007 school year hit a record high, according to the report. "What we see is an increase," Jack Buckley, who directs the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics, told The Huffington Post. Out of the 4 million students who started school four years ago, 3.1 million -- or 78.2 percent -- graduated with a regular or advanced diploma in the 2009-2010 school year. That's an increase of more than two percentage points.
NCES has put out this report since 2005, but Buckley's team has made estimates back into the 1970s. "This is the highest estimated rate of on-time graduation rate," Buckley said. The only time the country observed a similar graduation rate was in 1968, he added.
The report also calculated the dropout rate. Around 500,000 students who were supposed to graduate high
The percentage of students who graduated from high school within four years of starting ninth grade in the 2006-2007 school year hit a record high, according to the report. "What we see is an increase," Jack Buckley, who directs the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics, told The Huffington Post. Out of the 4 million students who started school four years ago, 3.1 million -- or 78.2 percent -- graduated with a regular or advanced diploma in the 2009-2010 school year. That's an increase of more than two percentage points.
NCES has put out this report since 2005, but Buckley's team has made estimates back into the 1970s. "This is the highest estimated rate of on-time graduation rate," Buckley said. The only time the country observed a similar graduation rate was in 1968, he added.
The report also calculated the dropout rate. Around 500,000 students who were supposed to graduate high