Of the 345 students who graduated from Mercer Island High School last Thursday, all but a few are planning on attending college this year. Just over one-third or 127 are staying in state for college. Besides the 44 students planning to attend the University of Washington, 18 students are planning to attend Bellevue College — the second highest number of students attending a single college this year.

Sixteen students will enroll at Western, 15 at Washington State University, eight at Seattle University, 10 at Whitman and six at Gonzaga University in Spokane.

Heading south are 15 students who will attend schools in Oregon, and 53 to colleges and schools in California. Further west, 10 students will be in Colorado for school in the fall, and to the north, 10 in British Columbia, Canada.

One student each is attending school in Alaska and Florida.

Nearly one-quarter of 77 members of the class of 2011 are planning to attended college east of the Mississippi River. They include 19 who are attending school in New York state, 12 in Pennsylvania and 11 in Massachusetts.

Four students are headed well beyond the borders of the United States: two to Franklin in Switzerland, one to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and one to Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.

Twenty-five students are planning a “gap year,” are working, finishing Running Start, heading into the military or are undecided.

The list and accompanying map are prepared each year by parent and volunteer Ken Glass and published in the Islander newspaper.