Washington High School Graduation Rates Inch Upward

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Washington high school graduation rates are moving upward but the state still lags behind the national average.

The News Tribune reports Washington's low-income kids and those from minority groups are still graduating at lower rates than the statewide average.

The state superintendent's office released last year's high school graduation rates on Thursday.

The four-year graduation rate statewide was 78.1 percent, up from 76.6 percent in 2011. The rate for students who took a fifth year to finish high school was 81 percent, up from 78.2 percent in 2011.

The most recent national four-year graduation rate, for the class of 2014, was 82.3 percent. That was a record high.