Oregon high school graduation rate improves

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon's high school graduation rate improved in 2016.

Figures released by the state Thursday show 74.8 percent of students earned a diploma in four years, a percentage point increase from the year before.

Oregon regularly has one of the nation's lowest graduation rates, and the uptick still leaves it below the national average of 83 percent. The state has set an ambitious goal of attaining a 100 percent graduation rate by 2025.

The state graduated 1,300 more students in 2016 than in the previous year. All demographic groups improved their rates.

Almost 90 percent of Asian students graduated in four years, but white, black, Hispanic and American Indian students all remain short of 80 percent. Seventy-eight percent of girls graduated in four years compared with 71 percent of boys.