RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia is seeing improvement in the rate of high school students who graduate on time.
A study released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education says about 81% of Virginia students who graduated in the spring of 2010 earned their diplomas in four years. That's up from 78% in the previous school year.
Virginia's rate topped the national rate of 78%.
The state's dropout rate also improved. About 2% of high school students dropped out during the 2009-2010 school year, compared to 2.5% during the previous year.
The national dropout rate was about 3%.
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