Critics may quibble with the exact percentages, but UT’s Michael Marder, director of the UTeach science program in the College of Natural Sciences, crunched the numbers himself and discovered that Texas leads the nation in high school graduation rates. Echoing numbers released by the Texas Education Agency earlier this year, Marder confirms that the state is second overall in the country and No. 1 for many ethnic groups. (San Antonio Express-News)