Georgia’s grad rate lifts the state one notch in national ranking

The slight increase in Georgia’s public high school graduation rate reported last year was enough to lift the state one spot to sixth worst in the nation, according to new data from the federal government.

The state's four-year graduation rate for 2014 was 72.5 percent, according to figures released by the Georgia Department of Education last October. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education put those results in a national context: Georgia's increase of 0.8 of a percentage point was enough to surpass Alaska and to remain above Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico and the District of Columbia.

The grad rate for one fast-growing Georgia demographic group, Hispanics, rose to 64 percent, up from 62.6 percent the year before, but remains near the bottom nationally.