CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming's high school graduation rate dropped from 86 percent in 1991 to 73 percent in 2002, according to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

The national rate dipped slightly over the same period, from 72 percent to 71 percent.

Wyoming ranked 27th for its graduation rate in 2002. Furthermore, only 34 percent of its public school students graduated in 2002 with the skills needed to attend four-year college, the study's authors, Jay Greene and Marcus Winters, reported Thursday.

Greene and Winters also said that while Wyoming's public high school graduation rate was 75 percent for white students, it was 59 percent for Hispanics.

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