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Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 106. Percentage of high school dropouts (status dropouts) among persons 16 to 24 years old, by income level, and percentage distribution of dropouts, by labor force status and educational attainment: 1970 through 2004
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         |          |    Dropout rate of 16- to 24-year-olds,   | Percentage distribution of dropouts, by|       Percentage distribution of dropouts, by
         |   Dropout|         by family income quartile         |           labor force status           |              years of school completed
         |   rate of|___________________________________________|________________________________________|__________________________________________________
         |16- to 24-|    Lowest|Middle low|Middle high|  Highest|     |           |          |     Not in|     |           |          |          |
Year     | year-olds|  quartile|  quartile|   quartile| quartile|Total|Employed\1\|Unemployed|labor force|Total|Less than 9|         9|        10|  11 or 12
_________|__________|__________|__________|___________|_________|_____|___________|__________|___________|_____|___________|__________|__________|__________
1        |         2|         3|         4|          5|        6|    7|          8|         9|         10|   11|         12|        13|        14|        15
_________|__________|__________|__________|___________|_________|_____|___________|__________|___________|_____|___________|__________|__________|__________
1970 ....|15.0(0.27)|28.0(0.85)|21.2(0.60)|11.7 (0.46)|5.2(0.31)|100.0|49.8 (0.98)|10.3(0.59)|39.9 (0.96)|100.0| 28.5(0.88)|20.6(0.79)|26.8(0.87)|24.0(0.84)
1971 ....|14.7(0.26)|28.8(0.83)|20.7(0.58)|10.9 (0.45)|5.1(0.30)|100.0|49.5 (0.97)|10.9(0.60)|39.6 (0.94)|100.0| 27.9(0.87)|21.7(0.80)|27.8(0.86)|22.7(0.81)
1972 ....|14.6(0.28)|27.6(0.79)|20.8(0.58)|10.2 (0.42)|5.4(0.31)|100.0|51.2 (0.95)|10.2(0.58)|38.6 (0.93)|100.0| 27.5(0.85)|20.8(0.77)|29.0(0.86)|22.7(0.80)
1973 ....|14.1(0.27)|28.0(0.78)|19.6(0.56)| 9.9 (0.41)|4.9(0.29)|100.0|53.2 (0.96)| 9.2(0.55)|37.5 (0.93)|100.0| 26.5(0.84)|20.9(0.78)|27.4(0.85)|25.3(0.83)
1974 ....|14.3(0.27)|---    (†)|---    (†)|---    (†) |---   (†)|100.0|51.8 (0.94)|12.3(0.62)|35.9 (0.91)|100.0| 25.4(0.82)|20.1(0.76)|28.7(0.85)|25.8(0.83)
         |          |          |          |           |         |     |           |          |           |     |           |          |          |
1975 ....|13.9(0.27)|28.8(0.76)|18.0(0.54)|10.2 (0.42)|5.0(0.28)|100.0|46.0 (0.94)|15.6(0.69)|38.4 (0.92)|100.0| 23.5(0.80)|21.1(0.77)|27.5(0.85)|27.9(0.85)
1976 ....|14.1(0.27)|28.1(0.73)|19.2(0.55)|10.1 (0.42)|4.9(0.27)|100.0|48.8 (0.93)|16.0(0.68)|35.2 (0.89)|100.0| 24.3(0.80)|20.1(0.75)|27.8(0.83)|27.8(0.83)
1977 ....|14.1(0.27)|28.5(0.74)|19.0(0.55)|10.4 (0.42)|4.5(0.27)|100.0|52.9 (0.94)|13.6(0.64)|33.6 (0.89)|100.0| 24.3(0.81)|21.7(0.78)|27.3(0.84)|26.6(0.83)
1978 ....|14.2(0.27)|28.2(0.74)|18.9(0.56)|10.5 (0.42)|5.5(0.29)|100.0|54.3 (0.93)|12.4(0.61)|33.3 (0.88)|100.0| 22.9(0.78)|20.2(0.75)|28.2(0.84)|28.8(0.84)
1979 ....|14.6(0.27)|28.1(0.73)|18.5(0.55)|11.5 (0.44)|5.6(0.29)|100.0|54.0 (0.92)|12.7(0.61)|33.3 (0.87)|100.0| 22.6(0.77)|21.0(0.75)|28.6(0.83)|27.8(0.82)
         |          |          |          |           |         |     |           |          |           |     |           |          |          |
1980 ....|14.1(0.26)|27.0(0.71)|18.1(0.55)|10.7 (0.43)|5.7(0.29)|100.0|50.4 (0.93)|17.0(0.70)|32.6 (0.88)|100.0| 23.6(0.79)|19.7(0.74)|29.8(0.85)|27.0(0.83)
1981 ....|13.9(0.26)|26.4(0.70)|17.8(0.53)|11.1 (0.43)|5.2(0.28)|100.0|49.8 (0.93)|18.3(0.72)|31.9 (0.87)|100.0| 24.3(0.80)|18.6(0.72)|30.2(0.85)|26.9(0.82)
1982 ....|13.9(0.27)|27.2(0.72)|18.3(0.58)|10.2 (0.44)|4.4(0.27)|100.0|45.2 (0.98)|21.1(0.80)|33.7 (0.93)|100.0| 22.9(0.83)|20.8(0.80)|28.8(0.89)|27.6(0.88)
1983 ....|13.7(0.27)|26.5(0.71)|17.8(0.58)|10.5 (0.46)|4.1(0.27)|100.0|48.4 (1.00)|18.2(0.77)|33.4 (0.94)|100.0| 23.0(0.84)|19.3(0.79)|28.8(0.91)|28.8(0.91)
1984 ....|13.1(0.27)|25.9(0.70)|16.5(0.57)| 9.9 (0.44)|3.8(0.26)|100.0|49.7 (1.03)|17.3(0.78)|32.9 (0.97)|100.0| 23.6(0.88)|21.4(0.85)|27.5(0.92)|27.5(0.92)
         |          |          |          |           |         |     |           |          |           |     |           |          |          |
1985 ....|12.6(0.27)|27.1(0.72)|14.7(0.55)| 8.3 (0.42)|4.0(0.27)|100.0|50.1 (1.07)|17.5(0.81)|32.4 (1.00)|100.0| 23.9(0.91)|21.0(0.87)|27.9(0.96)|27.2(0.95)
1986 ....|12.2(0.27)|25.4(0.70)|14.8(0.56)| 8.0 (0.41)|3.4(0.26)|100.0|51.1 (1.09)|16.4(0.81)|32.5 (1.02)|100.0| 25.4(0.95)|21.5(0.90)|25.7(0.95)|27.4(0.97)
1987 ....|12.6(0.28)|25.5(0.71)|16.6(0.58)| 8.0 (0.43)|3.6(0.26)|100.0|52.4 (1.08)|13.6(0.74)|34.0 (1.02)|100.0| 25.9(0.94)|20.7(0.87)|26.0(0.95)|27.5(0.96)
1988 ....|12.9(0.30)|27.2(0.80)|15.4(0.64)| 8.2 (0.48)|3.4(0.29)| 52.9|52.9 (1.19)|  ‡    (†)|  ‡    (†) |100.0| 28.9(1.08)|19.3(0.94)|25.1(1.04)|26.8(1.06)
1989 ....|12.6(0.31)|25.0(0.79)|16.2(0.66)| 8.7 (0.49)|3.3(0.29)|100.0|53.2 (1.22)|13.8(0.84)|33.0 (1.15)|100.0| 29.4(1.11)|20.8(0.99)|24.9(1.06)|25.0(1.06)
         |          |          |          |           |         |     |           |          |           |     |           |          |          |
1990 ....|12.1(0.29)|24.3(0.76)|15.1(0.60)| 8.7 (0.47)|2.9(0.26)|100.0|52.5 (1.20)|13.3(0.81)|34.2 (1.14)|100.0| 28.6(1.08)|20.9(0.97)|24.4(1.03)|26.1(1.05)
1991 ....|12.5(0.30)|25.9(0.77)|15.5(0.61)| 7.7 (0.45)|3.0(0.27)|100.0|47.5 (1.18)|15.8(0.86)|36.7 (1.14)|100.0| 28.6(1.07)|20.5(0.96)|26.1(1.04)|24.9(1.02)
1992\2\ .|11.0(0.28)|23.4(0.73)|12.9(0.57)| 7.3 (0.45)|2.4(0.24)|100.0|47.6 (1.26)|15.0(0.90)|37.4 (1.22)|100.0| 21.6(1.04)|17.5(0.96)|24.4(1.09)|36.5(1.22)
1993\2\ .|11.0(0.28)|22.9(0.72)|12.7(0.57)| 6.6 (0.43)|2.9(0.27)|100.0|48.7 (1.27)|12.8(0.85)|38.5 (1.23)|100.0| 20.5(1.02)|16.6(0.94)|24.1(1.08)|38.8(1.23)
1994\2\ .|11.4(0.26)|20.7(0.71)|13.7(0.59)| 8.7 (0.46)|4.9(0.33)|100.0|49.5 (1.22)|13.0(0.82)|37.5 (1.18)|100.0| 23.9(1.04)|16.2(0.90)|20.3(0.98)|39.6(1.19)
         |          |          |          |           |         |     |           |          |           |     |           |          |          |
1995\2\ .|12.0(0.27)|23.2(0.70)|13.8(0.59)| 8.3 (0.47)|3.6(0.29)|100.0|48.9 (1.19)|14.2(0.83)|37.0 (1.15)|100.0| 22.2(0.99)|17.0(0.90)|22.5(1.00)|38.3(1.16)
1996\2\ .|11.1(0.27)|22.0(0.72)|13.6(0.60)| 7.0 (0.45)|3.2(0.28)|100.0|47.3 (1.28)|15.0(0.91)|37.7 (1.24)|100.0| 20.3(1.03)|17.7(0.98)|22.6(1.07)|39.4(1.25)
1997\2\ .|11.0(0.27)|21.8(0.71)|13.5(0.59)| 6.2 (0.42)|3.4(0.29)|100.0|53.3 (1.28)|13.2(0.86)|33.5 (1.21)|100.0| 19.9(1.02)|15.7(0.93)|22.3(1.06)|42.1(1.26)
1998\2\ .|11.8(0.27)|22.3(0.71)|14.9(0.62)| 7.7 (0.45)|3.5(0.29)|100.0|55.1 (1.22)|10.3(0.74)|34.6 (1.17)|100.0| 21.0(1.00)|14.9(0.87)|21.4(1.01)|42.6(1.21)
1999\2\ .|11.2(0.26)|21.0(0.70)|14.3(0.60)| 7.4 (0.44)|3.9(0.30)|100.0|55.6 (1.24)|10.0(0.75)|34.4 (1.18)|100.0| 22.2(1.03)|16.3(0.92)|22.5(1.04)|39.0(1.21)
         |          |          |          |           |         |     |           |          |           |     |           |          |          |
2000\2\ .|10.9(0.26)|20.7(0.70)|12.8(0.56)| 8.3 (0.46)|3.5(0.29)|100.0|56.9 (1.24)|12.3(0.82)|30.8 (1.16)|100.0| 21.5(1.03)|15.3(0.90)|23.1(1.06)|40.0(1.23)
2001\2\ .|10.7(0.25)|19.3(0.68)|13.4(0.57)| 9.0 (0.47)|3.2(0.27)|100.0|58.3 (1.24)|14.8(0.89)|26.9 (1.11)|100.0| 18.4(0.97)|16.8(0.94)|23.8(1.07)|40.9(1.23)
2002\2\ .|10.5(0.24)|18.8(0.62)|12.3(0.53)| 8.4 (0.43)|3.8(0.28)|100.0|57.4 (1.18)|13.3(0.81)|29.2 (1.09)|100.0| 22.8(1.00)|17.1(0.90)|21.3(0.98)|38.9(1.17)
2003\2\ .| 9.9(0.23)|19.5(0.64)|10.8(0.49)| 7.3 (0.40)|3.4(0.26)|100.0|53.5 (1.22)|13.7(0.84)|32.9 (1.15)|100.0| 21.2(1.00)|18.2(0.94)|20.7(0.99)|40.0(1.20)
2004\2\ .|10.3(0.23)|17.7(0.60)|12.5(0.52)| 8.7 (0.43)|3.5(0.27)|100.0|53.0 (1.19)|14.3(0.83)|32.7 (1.12)|100.0| 21.4(0.97)|15.9(0.87)|22.5(0.99)|40.3(1.17)
_________|__________|__________|__________|___________|_________|_____|___________|__________|___________|_____|___________|__________|__________|__________
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met.
\1\Includes persons employed, but not currently working.
\2\Data may not be comparable with figures for earlier years because of changes in data collection procedures.
NOTE: "Status" dropouts are 16- to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and who have not completed a high school program, regardless of when they left school. People who have received GED credentials are counted as high school completers. Data are based on sample surveys of the civilian noninstitutionalized population. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October 1970 through October 2004, unpublished tabulations. (This table was prepared September 2005.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest