Graduation rate in Chicago Public Schools now at 73 percent

CHICAGO (AP) - Figures released by Chicago Public Schools show continued improvement in the district's graduation rate.

The nation's third-largest school district announced Monday just over 73 percent of students who entered Chicago high schools as freshmen in 2011 graduated by summer of 2016. The first day of the school year is Tuesday.

The five-year graduation rate has improved steadily during recent years. More than 20,400 students graduated in 2016.

A year ago, the district readjusted its graduation statistics and no longer counts students who leave for job training or GED programs as transfer students. They are now counted as dropouts.

That change is reflected in the numbers released Monday. It followed a CPS inspector general report and an investigation by Chicago's WBEZ and the Better Government Association, which reported that dropouts were being misclassified.