Rate All-Time High
Texas' on-time high school graduation rate has reached an all-time high, increasing 1.6 percentage points to 85.9 percent for the class of 2011.
The Texas Education Agency said Friday that more than 92 percent of the class of 2011's 319,588 students graduated in four years or continued high school for a fifth year.
The previous four-year graduation rate record was the class of 2010's 84.3 percent.
The agency said 2011 was the first graduating class required to take four years of math and science. Deputy Director Todd Webster said students not only met that challenge but "raised the bar."
Graduation rates for white students increased 0.4 percentage points to 92 percent, and 2011 Hispanic graduation rates increased 3 percentage points to 81.8 percent. Black student graduation rates rose to 80.9 percent from 78.8 percent in 2010.
Statewide, boys continue to be less likely to graduate, with a rate of 83.7 percent, compared to the 88.2 percent of girls. The graduation rate for Houston ISD's Class of 2011 was 78.5 percent, according to figures the district released last month.
