WASHINGTON (AP) - An annual report on high school graduation says Maryland's high school graduation rate is 84 percent, slightly above the national high school graduation rate.
The "Building a Grad Nation" report released Monday shows that in 2012, the latest year for which data is available, schools nationwide posted the highest graduation rate ever. For the first time, the report says, the national high school graduation rate has hit 80 percent.
In Maryland, the 2012 graduation rate was 84 percent. That's up from 82.8 percent in 2011.
Iowa had the highest high school graduation rate, 89 percent. Nevada had the lowest, 63 percent.
Maryland did see an increase in what the report calls "dropout factories," schools where graduation is not the norm. In 2002 there were 17; in 2012 there were 26.
