The graduation rate for the country as a whole hit a new high in the 2014-15 school year, when about 83 percent of US high school students got their diplomas on time, President Barack Obama told a crowd at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington, D.C., this morning.
“We live in a global economy. And when you graduate, you’re no longer going to be competing just with somebody here in D.C. for a great job,” the president said. “You’re competing with somebody on the other side of the world, in China or in India, because jobs can go wherever they want because of the Internet and because of technology. And the best jobs are going to go to the people who are the best educated—whether in India or China, or anywhere in the world.”
Here’s the breakdown reported by the US Department of Education:
| Group | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 79 | 80 | 81.4 | 82.3 | 83.2 |
| Low-income | 70 | 72 | 73.3 | 74.6 | 76.1 |
| Black | 67 | 69 | 70.7 | 72.5 | 74.6 |
| White | 84 | 86 | 86.6 | 87.2 | 87.6 |
| Hispanic | 71 | 73 | 75.2 | 76.3 | 77.8 |
| English learners | 57 | 59 | 61.1 | 62.6 | 65.1 |
| With disabilities | 59 | 61 | 61.9 | 63.1 | 64.6 |
And the president’s remarks on video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoyrtpaDbTk
