Louisiana: Record number of 2018 graduates enroll in college

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana officials say a record number of last year's public high school graduates enrolled in college immediately following graduation.

The education department and Board of Regents announced that 25,083 of those graduates became college students in the fall.

That's an increase of 1,566 over the previous year and 4,626 more than the class of 2012, a nearly 23% increase over six years.

Officials say more than half the growth is tied to increases in the number of black students attending college.

The college enrollment figures come after the education department announced Louisiana's public four-year high school graduation rate surpassed 80% for the first time in 2018.