Iowa high school graduation rate at record 91.3 percent

Iowa's high school graduation rate reached a record high of 91.3 percent, according to data from the Iowa Department of Education on Tuesday.

The state's four-year graduation rate overall has maintained a positive trend since 2011.

The Iowa City Community School District has hovered near the state's average during those years - it's now at 93.6 percent. The Cedar Rapids Community School District, at 83.9 for 2016, trails about 7 points the state average.

In other Eastern Iowa public school districts - College Community, Linn-Mar, Marion Independent, Mount Vernon and Solon - the graduation rate for the class of 2016 also topped the state average.

Iowa has one of the best high school graduation rates in the country, according to the federal National Center for Education Statistics. It and Nebraska are the only states to have a graduation rates that top 90 percent.

According to data from the 2013-14 school year, the most recent available, the national adjusted class graduation rate is 82 percent.

Dropout rate increases

Iowa's dropout rate also has gone up, according to state data. The dropout rate counts students in grades 9 through 12 - which is why it simultaneously can increase with the state's graduation rate, which counts only one class of students.

During the 2015-16 school year, 2.8 percent of high-schoolers - about 4,150 students - dropped out.

In the Corridor, the Mount Vernon, Solon, College Community, Iowa City, Linn-Mar, Marion Independent and Clear Creek Amana school districts all have lower dropout rates.

The Cedar Rapids district has a rate of 3.8 percent.

Nationwide, 6.5 percent of students drop out of high school, according to 2014 data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

And Iowa public schools' dropout rate still is trending down, data show. About 3.4 percent of students dropped out in the 2010-11 school year, and the rate fell every year until 2014-15, when it hit 2.5 percent.

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