According to the study, the graduation rate is 77.1 percent. The rate is based upon the number of students who leave a school and the total who receive a diploma. For information, visit www.edweek.org.

The Arizona Department of Education shows that the district's graduation rate is 85 percent for the class of 2006. The state is able to track students who have transferred to another school or district as well as those who have left school.
"Mesa Public Schools students are at the forefront. They compete well with peers in Arizona and across the nation," said Debra Duvall, superintendent. "Our students have a long tradition of academic success."

• The 2007 graduates from Mesa's seven high schools were offered more than $43 million in scholarships.
• The class had four of the state's Flinn Scholars and 16 National Merit Finalists. A Mountain View High School Academic Decathlon team and the Dobson High We The People team each took both first place in state and fourth place at the national level.
• Students earned awards in the Central Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair, speech and debate tournaments and the All-State music festival.
• Mesa High School was named the "most successful biotech training facility for high school students in metropolitan Phoenix" in a Flinn Foundation report.
• Mountain View High received a National Siemens Award for Advanced Placement in math and science

Mesa Public Schools is the largest district in Arizona and the 39th largest in the United States.