Size of high-school graduating classes will hit 3.2 million: report predicts a record number by 2008, but wide variations in increases from state to state

The nation's high school graduating class is expected to peak in 2008 at a high of 3.2 million students. The sunbelt states, Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Nevada, will see the highest increases. Louisiana, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming and the District of Columbia are expected to show declines. Black students will be the largest minority group to graduate from high school in 2001, but the greatest growth, about 30 percent, will be among Latinos, American Indians and Asians.