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Report: Colorado High School Graduation Rate Among Lowest In The Nation

Dave Herholz
/
Flickr
More students are heading back to college and graduate school this fall. Initial reports from across Colorado show that student enrollment is up.

When it comes to the percentage of students completing high school within four years, Colorado is not making the grade. That’s according to a recent report by GradNation, an alliance of education-focused organizations.

Seventy-seven percent of Colorado’s class of 2015 graduated within four years. That’s compared to the national average of 83 percent. GradNation’s goal is to encourage states to reach 90 percent by 2020. According to the group, Colorado needs 7,847 more graduates in the class of 2020 to meet that goal.

But context is key. According to 2015 state data, 83 percent receive a diploma in five years -- a two point improvement over the previous year.

The state’s four-year completion rate has also improved slightly since 2015. In 2016, close to 79 percent of students wrapped up their high school diploma in four years according to numbers released by Colorado’s Department of Education.

Ann Marie Awad's journalistic career has seen her zigzag around the United States, finally landing on Colorado. Before she trekked to this neck of the woods, she was a reporter and Morning Edition host for WRKF in Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capitol. In a former life, she was a reporter in New York City. Originally, she's from Buffalo, so she'll be the judge of whether or not your chicken wings are up to snuff, thank you very much.
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