Federal education officials say Mississippi has a high school graduation rate of 75%. Alabama has a graduation rate of 72%.

Here's a comparison to neighboring states:
Tennessee 86%
Georgia 67%
Florida 71%
Louisiana 71%
Arkansas 81%

The U.S. Department of Education released the data this week.

It details four-year high school graduation rates in 2010-11, the first year for which all states used a common, rigorous measure.

Federal officials say varying methods of graduation rates that states used previously were unreliable for state-by-state comparisons.

However, education officials said in a statement that the new data allows for such comparisons and can be used by states, districts and schools to promote greater accountability and increase graduation rates.