The District of Columbia ranks fourth-worst in the nation when it comes to preparing its public school students for college, according to a report being released today.

As Mayor Adrian Fenty assumes control over the troubled, 55,000-student system today, data from the nonprofit Editorial Projects in Education Research Center shows that only 58.2 percent of the District's 2007 class of public school students will leave high school with a diploma. Nationally, on average, some 70 percent complete high school according to the Bethesda organization's report Diplomas Count: Ready for What? Preparing for College, Careers and Life After High School.

Only South Carolina, which graduated 53.8 percent of its students; Nevada, at 54 percent; and Georgia, at 56.1 percent, fared worse than the District.

The study, based on data for the 2003-2004 academic year, shows Virginia and Maryland fare far better, graduating 73.1 percent and 74.7 percent of their students, respectively. Utah scored the highest, graduating 83.8 percent of public school students.

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It is hard to tell how reliable the report's figures are because the District, which has 55 charter schools, has been shedding thousands of students annually.

District Public Schools spokeswoman Audrey Williams said officials were reviewing the report Monday.

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com