(AP) — A report shows that there was a drop in the number of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students who went to college last year after graduating from Hawaiʻi’s public schools. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that education leaders attribute the drop to the pandemic. The report shows that 35% of Native Hawaiians in the class of 2020 enrolled in college upon graduation. That’s a decline from 44% for the class of 2019. Figures show the rate of Pacific Islander graduates who went to college fell to 29% from 35%. Overall, 50% of Hawaii’s public high school graduates last year went on to college, down from 55% the previous year.

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