

Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate by State (2012-13)

The American public education system is operated in part by the state government, but mostly at the district level. As a result, there are different approaches to education all over the country, and different qualities of education. A freshman student entering high school in Nebraska or Wisconsin is twice as likely to graduate as their counterparts in Nevada or Mississippi. At a 68% high school graduation rate, Nevada is 27% below the national average of 81.9%. Most states are very near the national average with some standing out at the high or low end of the spectrum, including North Dakota and Minnesota at the top, Georgia and New Mexico at the bottom.



Chalk.com; data via U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

Females graduate more than males in every state



Chalk.com; data via U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

Female student graduate rates are consistently higher than males in every state. The greatest discrepancies are in the District of Columbia and Mississippi where the female graduation rates are 25% and 17% higher than the male rate, respectively. Comparing to the overall graduation rates, the states with the most uneven graduation rates by gender are also at the bottom of overall graduation rates.

Asian students are consistently on top; Black and Native American students commonly at the bottom.



Chalk.com; data via U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

Analyzing graduation rates by state shows some anomalies caused by low populations of different ethnicities in each state. Looking at the United States as a whole shows Asian students leading graduation rates by 10% over white students. Asian students graduate high school approximately 35% more than their Black and Native American counterparts.

It's uphill from here



Chalk.com; data via U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

High school graduation rates in the United States have been steadily increasing since the year 2000. With positive support from state governments to invest in education, the lowest performing states can raise their graduation rates and narrow the gap in school completion between states.

The National Center for Education Statistics compiled the data in the report Digest of Education Statistics: 2013.

This post originally appeared on Chalk.com