The Manhattan Institute says 66 percent of students who entered a Washington high school in 2001 earned a diploma in four years. The nationwide rate is 70 percent.

The state figure from the study commissioned by the Gates Foundation is lower than Washington's own figure. The state School Superintendent's Office says the graduation rate is 72 percent.

The institute also lists graduation rates for racial groups in Washington: 77 percent for Asians, 69 percent for whites, 53 percent for blacks, and 48 percent for Hispanics and Indians.

The institute calculated what it calls the "college readiness" of graduates by including scores on a national reading test. The institute says 32 percent of students nationally left high school ready for college. In Washington the rate was 24 percent.

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www.manhattan-institute.org