WORLD Channel

Graduation rates in American have reached an all-time high, but some states are lagging behind.

Why graduate? High school graduates make more money, are less likely to be unemployed, and live almost a decade longer than those who don’t finish school.

Graduation rates are increasing in almost every state — which states are leading this progress, and which states are lagging behind?

Asian Americans are one of the best-educated groups in the country, but a startling number of Southeast Asian Americans aren’t graduating from high school.

Born into a working-class family outside of Detroit, Michael Eric Dyson became an ordained Baptist minister, and then obtained his masters and PHD degrees in religion from Princeton University. He is now a professor of sociology at Georgetown University. Called inspiring and influential by Essence and Ebony, Dyson is an author of 16 books focused on issues within the African American community.

For Beverly Bond, music is everything. It defined her childhood and helped her through the shadows of underground clubs to become one of the most sought after DJ’s. After leaving the music industry, which was fraught with superficiality for the male-dominated world of music production, Bond founded the non-profit Black Girls Rock! to promote and develop leadership roles in African American teens.

Harvard University graduate Soledad O'Brien was born to an Irish-Australian father and an Afro-Cuban mother. O'Brien began as a TV writer and producer, and later became an anchor and co-host of news programs for MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. In 2003, she was tapped to co-anchor CNN’s American Mornings and then Starting Point. O'Brien left CNN in 2013 to find Starfish Media Group, a production company.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Malik Yoba is no stranger to life on the stage; his exposure to theater is the driving force behind his pursuit of acting. Yoba, winner of three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for New York Undercover, is the author of autobiography Yoba: Lessons From the Street and Other Places. He's also the founder of Malik Yoba National Theatre Company.

Though Amar’e Stoudemire didn’t start playing basketball until his early teens, he has become one of the most dominating power forwards in pro basketball. With athleticism, skills and guidance, Stoudemire was drafted into the NBA after high school in order to elevate himself and his family to a better life. The All-Star player is also a writer of a series of books and founded an outreach program.

After being inspired by a PBS program, Michelle Rhee joined Teach for America and then founded The New Teacher Project. Appointed Chancellor of Washington D.C. Public Schools from 2007 to 2010, Rhee was met with criticism due to her aggressive style of public school reform. Currently, founder and CEO of StudentsFirst, an organization dedicated to urban school reform, has written the book, Radical.

Artist John Forte started out as a classical violinist but after attending NYU for a short time, he became a producer on The Fugees' The Score. Forte was sentenced to 14 years on drug possession, which was later commuted. Upon his release, he attended The London School of Economics. An active voice in the debate for prison reform, Forte is currently working on an autobiographical documentary.

Susan Taylor, born and raised in Harlem, began her career as a freelance fashion and beauty expert for Essence, the year the magazine was founded in 1970. She rose through the ranks to become editor-in-chief and then publications director. Named "the most influential black woman in journalism" by American Libraries in 1994, Taylor is the founder and CEO of The National CARES Mentoring Movement.