North Carolina’s high-school graduation rate is headed in the wrong direction. In the past two years, the state’s rate has dropped by about one percent.
Two years ago, North Carolina beat the national graduation rate average for the first time. Two years later, the state is back below the national average, as rates have gone up across the country and North Carolina’s have dipped.
According to EdWeek’s Diplomas Count report, North Carolina graduated 71.7 percent of its high school seniors in 2010. That’s down from 72.8 percent in 2008.
The state's three largest school districts - Wake, Charlotte/Mecklenburg, and Guilford - all outperformed their so-called "expected" graduation rate. Wake's 77 percent rate was the highest of the state's urban districts.
