Oklahoma's Dropout Rate Lower Than National Average

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The percentage of Oklahoma school students graduating from high school is slightly better than the national average.<br/><br/>A study by the Editorial Projects in Education Research

Tuesday, June 20th 2006, 11:11 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The percentage of Oklahoma school students graduating from high school is slightly better than the national average.

A study by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center says 71 percent of Oklahoma students graduated in 2002-2003. The national average was 69-point-six percent.

Oklahoma tied California for 29th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the percentage of students graduating. New Jersey led the states with a graduation rate of 84.5 percent while South Carolina is last at 52.5 percent.

State Superintendent Sandy Garrett says she's particularly pleased with the number of American Indian and black students who are graduation.

Oklahoma's graduation rate for Indian students was nearly 63 percent while the national average was 47.4 percent. For black students the state's graduation rate was almost 56 percent compared to a national average of 51.6 percent.