A new nationwide report on the four-year high school graduation rates shows Delaware is exactly at the national average.
The annual GradNation study released Monday says 80 percent of Delaware students graduated in the 2011-2012 school year. The national average also inched up one percent in that year from 79 percent.
The graduation rate for some minorities in Delaware still lags behind the state’s overall average though, despite being higher than the national rates in those categories. 74 percent of black and Latino students in the First State graduated in 2011-2012.
On the other hand, 83 percent of white and 93 percent of Asian students graduated in the same year.
Students with disabilities or from economically disadvantaged backgrounds also came in below the average -- at 57 and 72 percent respectively.
The GradNation study comes on the heels of the Delaware Department of Education reporting in February that dropout rates in the First State fell to a 30-year low last year. 2.9 percent of Delaware students dropped out in the 2012-2013 school year. That Delaware DOE reports also showed that the First State had a 79.9 percent graduation rate last school year.