Texas Graduation Rate Increases Nearly 2 Percent

Increase 1% under the national average increase of 2.9%

A new report finds that Texas' average graduation rate for high school students increased 1.9 percent in seven years.

It finds that Texas increased its graduation rate from 73.5 percent to 75.4 percent between 2002 and 2009-- pulling almost even with the 2009 average nationwide of 75.5 percent.

The national graduation rate rose 2.9 percent over the same period.

The report didn't provide state rankings, but comparing results manually showed that Texas and Colorado are tied for 28th.

The report will be presented Monday in Washington at the Building a Grad Nation summit primarily sponsored by America's Promise Alliance, a children's advocacy organization founded by ex-Secretary of State Colin Powell. It was authored by representatives from Civic Enterprises and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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