The U.S. graduation rate for the class of 2008 was 75 percent, up from 74 percent for the class of 2007, says a new report by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The 2008 graduation rate is based on students who started as freshmen in the fall of 2004 and graduated within four years.
Asian and Pacific Islander students had the highest rate, at 91.4 percent. The rate was 81 percent for white students, 63.5 percent for Hispanic students, 62.5 percent for black students, and 64.2 percent for American Indian and Alaska Native students.
The study also found that 4 percent of high school students dropped out of school during the 2007-08 school year.
For 14 states and the District of Columbia, that represents a decrease of at least half a percentage point from the 2006-07 school year to 2007-08. For 10 other states, the 4 percent dropout rate represents a decrease of half a percentage point over the same period.
