Minnesota Lags in Minorities Graduating High School on Time

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota continues to trail the rest of the country in on-time graduation for high school students of color.

An analysis by Minnesota Public Radio News finds fewer than 60 percent of Minnesota's black and Hispanic students finished high school in four years as of the 2012-13 academic year. That rate was 49 percent for Native American students and about 78 percent for Asian-American students.

Minnesota was the only state to be in the bottom five for those four nonwhite student categories. The statewide four-year graduation rate was about 80 percent and is near the middle of the pack.

Brenda Cassellius, the state's education commissioner, says the achievement gap is due in part to Minnesota's tougher graduation requirements. But she says the state hasn't done a good job of paying attention to this gap.