Report praises NC’s improved graduation rate

RALEIGH, N.C. — A new report shows North Carolina is among the top 10 states where high school graduation rates dramatically improved between 2002 and 2006.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University released a report Thursday that said North Carolina’s graduation rate improved from 68 percent in 2002 to 72 percent in 2006. The state ranked eighth among states that saw gains and had a net gain of 3,900 graduates.

But the report warns that North Carolina still has an overall graduation rate below the national average of 75 percent. Yet it’s an improvement from 2002, when the state’s graduation rate ranked among the nation’s lowest.

The report says North Carolina’s improvement appears to have been partially offset by declines in the percent of seniors receiving diplomas, which fell 1.9 percent.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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