A press release from the Department of Public Instruction says the rate of students graduating in four years or less is now 83.8 percent … up from 82.5 percent in 2013 and from 68.3 percent when the state first started reporting the four-year cohort graduation rate in 2006. The percentage of students graduating in five-years or less is 84.9. DPI notes the graduation rate has risen despite students needing at least 22 credits to graduate compared to needing 20 in 2009. DPI also reported that all subgroups of students had higher graduation rates in 2014 from the prior year. There was a significant gap in graduation rates between male and female students. Women graduated last year at a nearly 88 percent rate while men were just over 80. I’m George Olsen.