Eighty-eight percent of the students who entered the ninth grade in the fall of 2008 earned a diploma within four years and of those, more than 55 percent earned an Advanced Studies Diploma, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) reported on Tuesday.

The statewide dropout rate fell to 6.5 percent for the class of 2012, compared with 7.2 percent for the class of 2011. During the last five years, the statewide dropout rate has fallen by more than 25 percent.

"More students graduating on time from Virginia’s schools means we have more young people who are college- or career-ready," said Gov. Bob McDonnell. "This is good news for all Virginians. While we continue to move in the right direction, our job will not be done until students in every school and every zip code have the opportunity to learn and graduate from high school prepared to succeed at the next level."

Of the 97,023 students in the 2012 cohort, 85,359, or 88 percent, earned a Board of Education-approved dip...