The good news? National graduation rates are better than they’ve been since 1974.

The even better news? Plymouth students are graduating at a rate that surpasses both national and state standards.

The National Center for Education Statistics released a report recently that found that the nationwide four-year graduation rate was 78.2 percent for the 2009-10 school year.

According to the Minnesota Department of Education, Wayzata Public Schools' most recent rate, which is for the 2010-11 school year, is 89.8 percent.

Click on the PDF to the right to read the full report.

In total, Robbinsdale Area Schools falls behind with 73.2 percent of the district's students graduating, though that's up from years past. However, when it comes to Robbinsdale Armstrong High School, the Minnesota Department of Education reports that the graduation rate was 81.1 percent for the 2010-11 school year.

Wayzata Public Schools' graduation rates exceed the national average even though MDE uses a tougher, more accurate method of calculating graduation figures for Minnesota districts.

For example, the center’s “Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate” formula gave Minnesota an 88.2 percent rate compared to the 76.9 percent MDE calculated for the state using “adjusted cohort graduation rates,” which relies on more data about individual students.

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West Metro Graduation Rates

NOTE: Figures come from the Minnesota Department of Education, which calculates graduation rates differently than the National Center for Education Statistics report. District results using the center’s method were not available.