More high school students are walking across the stage with diplomas in hand than ever before in America, the White House announced on Monday (Oct. 17). Under the Obama administration, high school graduation rates reached a record high of 83.2 percent.
When states began abiding by a consistent, four-year measure of high school completion for the 2010-2011 school year, only 79 percent of high schoolers successfully completed their secondary education. Since then, the rate has steadily risen to its present milestone, where every racial group has made significant strides.
With a leap of 7.6 percentage points, the Huffington Post reports that black students have made substantial progress in spite of achievement gaps while English language-learners have seen the most progress of any student group, improving their graduation rate by 8.1 percentage points.
President Obama took to Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington, D.C., where schools have seen graduation rates soar from 61.4 percent to 68.5 percent, to discuss the new record. This feat is a major win for POTUS as he prepares to leave office, but an even bigger accomplishment for students nationwide.