Percent of high school graduates earning minimum credits in selected combinations of academic courses, by sex and race/ethnicity: 1982 to 1998

Table 141.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
                               | All |    Sex     |        Race/ethnicity
      Year of graduation       |stu- |____________|_______________________________________
          and course           |dents|Male |Female|White|Black|Hispanic| Asian/ |American
     combinations taken\1\     |     |     |      |     |     |        |Pacific | Indian/
                               |     |     |      |     |     |        |Islander| Alaskan
                               |     |     |      |     |     |        |        | Native
_______________________________|_____|_____|______|_____|_____|________|________|_________
               1               |  2  |  3  |  4   |  5  |  6  |   7    |   8    |    9
_______________________________|_____|_____|______|_____|_____|________|________|_________
        1982 graduates         |     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  .5 Comp., and 2 F.L.\2\ .....| 2.0 | 2.3 |  1.8 | 2.4 | 0.7 |    0.6 |    5.8 |     1.1
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  and 2 F.L. ..................| 9.5 | 9.1 |  9.9 |10.9 | 5.2 |    3.9 |   17.0 |     3.3
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math |14.3 |15.2 | 13.4 |15.9 |11.0 |    6.7 |   21.1 |     8.1
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 2 Sci., 2 Math |31.5 |31.7 | 31.3 |32.4 |30.8 |   25.6 |   32.0 |    23.6
                               |     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
        1987 graduates         |     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  and .5 Comp., and 2 F.L.\2\ .|10.6 |11.5 |  9.8 |11.3 | 6.6 |    5.5 |   20.5 |     2.5
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  and 2 F.L. ..................|18.1 |18.0 | 18.3 |19.0 |12.7 |   10.8 |   35.7 |     4.9
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math |24.8 |25.9 | 23.7 |26.1 |19.6 |   14.5 |   39.8 |    24.3
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 2 Sci., 2 Math |48.1 |48.0 | 48.4 |48.1 |48.3 |   43.9 |   57.9 |    61.8
                               |     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
        1990 graduates         |     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  .5 Comp., and 2 F.L. \2\.....|18.0 |17.8 | 18.2 |18.6 |15.1 |   17.8 |   23.3 |     7.8
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  and 2 F.L. ..................|29.9 |28.8 | 31.0 |31.7 |22.9 |   25.4 |   42.6 |     9.9
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math |38.2 |38.5 | 37.9 |39.2 |39.0 |   29.8 |   47.4 |    19.2
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 2 Sci., 2 Math |65.5 |64.3 | 66.4 |64.9 |71.3 |   63.7 |   69.1 |    46.3
                               |     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
        1994 graduates         |     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  .5 Comp., and 2 F.L. \2\.....|25.1 |23.4 | 26.8 |26.4 |19.0 |   27.1 |   35.5 |    12.9
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  and 2 F.L. ..................|39.0 |35.0 | 42.7 |41.6 |29.6 |   35.6 |   50.1 |    22.5
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math |49.3 |47.0 | 51.5 |52.4 |43.7 |   40.3 |   54.9 |    46.0
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 2 Sci., 2 Math |73.9 |71.2 | 76.4 |75.1 |74.5 |   74.7 |   72.3 |    76.3
                               |     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
        1998 graduates         |     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  and .5 Comp., & 2 F.L. \2\...|28.6 |27.6 | 30.1 |29.6 |27.9 |   20.4 |   38.6 |    16.5
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math,|     |     |      |     |     |        |        |
  and 2 F.L. ..................|44.2 |40.5 | 48.2 |46.2 |40.0 |   32.0 |   57.8 |    28.3
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 3 Sci., 3 Math |55.0 |52.9 | 57.8 |56.8 |55.6 |   40.0 |   66.1 |    40.0
4 Eng., 3 S.S., 2 Sci., 2 Math |74.5 |72.8 | 77.0 |74.7 |76.0 |   70.1 |   79.5 |    76.4
_______________________________|_____|_____|______|_____|_____|________|________|_________

\1\Eng. = English; S.S. = social studies; Sci. = science; Comp. = computer science; and F.L. = foreign language.
\2\The National Commission on Excellence in Education recommended that all college-bound high school students take these courses as a minimum.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "High School and Beyond," First Followup survey; "1990 High School Transcript Study," "National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988," Second Followup survey; "1994 High School Transcript Study;" and "1998 High School Transcript Study." (This table was prepared February 2000.)

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