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Digest of Education Statistics
2008 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 109. Percentage of high school dropouts among persons 16 through 24 years old (status dropout rate), by sex and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1960 through 2007
Year Total status dropout rate Male status dropout rate Female status dropout rate
All races1 White Black Hispanic All races1 White Black Hispanic All races1 White Black Hispanic
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
19602  27.2 (—) (†) (†) (†) 27.8 (—) (†) (†) (†) 26.7 (—) (†) (†) (†)
19673  17.0 (—) 15.4 (—) 28.6 (—) (†) 16.5 (—) 14.7 (—) 30.6 (—) (†) 17.3 (—) 16.1 (—) 26.9 (—) (†)
19683  16.2 (—) 14.7 (—) 27.4 (—) (†) 15.8 (—) 14.4 (—) 27.1 (—) (†) 16.5 (—) 15.0 (—) 27.6 (—) (†)
19693  15.2 (—) 13.6 (—) 26.7 (—) (†) 14.3 (—) 12.6 (—) 26.9 (—) (†) 16.0 (—) 14.6 (—) 26.7 (—) (†)
                                                 
19703  15.0 (0.29) 13.2 (0.30) 27.9 (1.22) (†) 14.2 (0.42) 12.2 (0.42) 29.4 (1.82) (†) 15.7 (0.41) 14.1 (0.42) 26.6 (1.65) (†)
19713  14.7 (0.28) 13.4 (0.29) 24.0 (1.14) (†) 14.2 (0.41) 12.6 (0.41) 25.5 (1.70) (†) 15.2 (0.40) 14.2 (0.42) 22.6 (1.54) (†)
1972 14.6 (0.28) 12.3 (0.29) 21.3 (1.07) 34.3 (2.22) 14.1 (0.40) 11.6 (0.40) 22.3 (1.59) 33.7 (3.23) 15.1 (0.39) 12.8 (0.41) 20.5 (1.44) 34.8 (3.05)
1973 14.1 (0.27) 11.6 (0.28) 22.2 (1.06) 33.5 (2.24) 13.7 (0.38) 11.5 (0.39) 21.5 (1.53) 30.4 (3.16) 14.5 (0.38) 11.8 (0.39) 22.8 (1.47) 36.4 (3.16)
1974 14.3 (0.27) 11.9 (0.28) 21.2 (1.05) 33.0 (2.08) 14.2 (0.39) 12.0 (0.40) 20.1 (1.51) 33.8 (2.99) 14.3 (0.38) 11.8 (0.39) 22.1 (1.45) 32.2 (2.90)
                                                 
1975 13.9 (0.27) 11.4 (0.27) 22.9 (1.06) 29.2 (2.02) 13.3 (0.37) 11.0 (0.38) 23.0 (1.56) 26.7 (2.84) 14.5 (0.38) 11.8 (0.39) 22.9 (1.44) 31.6 (2.86)
1976 14.1 (0.27) 12.0 (0.28) 20.5 (1.00) 31.4 (2.01) 14.1 (0.38) 12.1 (0.39) 21.2 (1.49) 30.3 (2.94) 14.2 (0.37) 11.8 (0.39) 19.9 (1.35) 32.3 (2.76)
1977 14.1 (0.27) 11.9 (0.28) 19.8 (0.99) 33.0 (2.02) 14.5 (0.38) 12.6 (0.40) 19.5 (1.45) 31.6 (2.89) 13.8 (0.37) 11.2 (0.38) 20.0 (1.36) 34.3 (2.83)
1978 14.2 (0.27) 11.9 (0.28) 20.2 (1.00) 33.3 (2.00) 14.6 (0.38) 12.2 (0.40) 22.5 (1.52) 33.6 (2.88) 13.9 (0.37) 11.6 (0.39) 18.3 (1.31) 33.1 (2.78)
1979 14.6 (0.27) 12.0 (0.28) 21.1 (1.01) 33.8 (1.98) 15.0 (0.39) 12.6 (0.40) 22.4 (1.52) 33.0 (2.83) 14.2 (0.37) 11.5 (0.38) 20.0 (1.35) 34.5 (2.77)
                                                 
1980 14.1 (0.26) 11.4 (0.27) 19.1 (0.97) 35.2 (1.89) 15.1 (0.39) 12.3 (0.40) 20.8 (1.47) 37.2 (2.72) 13.1 (0.36) 10.5 (0.37) 17.7 (1.28) 33.2 (2.61)
1981 13.9 (0.26) 11.3 (0.27) 18.4 (0.93) 33.2 (1.80) 15.1 (0.38) 12.5 (0.40) 19.9 (1.40) 36.0 (2.61) 12.8 (0.35) 10.2 (0.36) 17.1 (1.24) 30.4 (2.48)
1982 13.9 (0.27) 11.4 (0.29) 18.4 (0.97) 31.7 (1.93) 14.5 (0.40) 12.0 (0.42) 21.2 (1.50) 30.5 (2.73) 13.3 (0.38) 10.8 (0.40) 15.9 (1.26) 32.8 (2.71)
1983 13.7 (0.27) 11.1 (0.29) 18.0 (0.97) 31.6 (1.93) 14.9 (0.41) 12.2 (0.43) 19.9 (1.46) 34.3 (2.84) 12.5 (0.37) 10.1 (0.39) 16.2 (1.28) 29.1 (2.61)
1984 13.1 (0.27) 11.0 (0.29) 15.5 (0.91) 29.8 (1.91) 14.0 (0.40) 11.9 (0.43) 16.8 (1.37) 30.6 (2.78) 12.3 (0.37) 10.1 (0.39) 14.3 (1.22) 29.0 (2.63)
                                                 
1985 12.6 (0.27) 10.4 (0.29) 15.2 (0.92) 27.6 (1.93) 13.4 (0.40) 11.1 (0.42) 16.1 (1.37) 29.9 (2.76) 11.8 (0.37) 9.8 (0.39) 14.3 (1.23) 25.2 (2.68)
1986 12.2 (0.27) 9.7 (0.28) 14.2 (0.90) 30.1 (1.88) 13.1 (0.40) 10.3 (0.42) 15.0 (1.33) 32.8 (2.66) 11.4 (0.37) 9.1 (0.39) 13.5 (1.21) 27.2 (2.63)
1987 12.6 (0.28) 10.4 (0.30) 14.1 (0.90) 28.6 (1.84) 13.2 (0.40) 10.8 (0.43) 15.0 (1.35) 29.1 (2.57) 12.1 (0.38) 10.0 (0.41) 13.3 (1.21) 28.1 (2.64)
1988 12.9 (0.30) 9.6 (0.31) 14.5 (1.00) 35.8 (2.30) 13.5 (0.44) 10.3 (0.46) 15.0 (1.48) 36.0 (3.19) 12.2 (0.42) 8.9 (0.43) 14.0 (1.36) 35.4 (3.31)
1989 12.6 (0.31) 9.4 (0.32) 13.9 (0.98) 33.0 (2.19) 13.6 (0.45) 10.3 (0.47) 14.9 (1.46) 34.4 (3.08) 11.7 (0.42) 8.5 (0.43) 13.0 (1.32) 31.6 (3.11)
                                                 
1990 12.1 (0.29) 9.0 (0.30) 13.2 (0.94) 32.4 (1.91) 12.3 (0.42) 9.3 (0.44) 11.9 (1.30) 34.3 (2.71) 11.8 (0.41) 8.7 (0.42) 14.4 (1.34) 30.3 (2.70)
1991 12.5 (0.30) 8.9 (0.31) 13.6 (0.95) 35.3 (1.93) 13.0 (0.43) 8.9 (0.44) 13.5 (1.37) 39.2 (2.74) 11.9 (0.41) 8.9 (0.43) 13.7 (1.31) 31.1 (2.70)
19924  11.0 (0.28) 7.7 (0.29) 13.7 (0.95) 29.4 (1.86) 11.3 (0.41) 8.0 (0.42) 12.5 (1.32) 32.1 (2.67) 10.7 (0.39) 7.4 (0.40) 14.8 (1.36) 26.6 (2.56)
19934  11.0 (0.28) 7.9 (0.29) 13.6 (0.94) 27.5 (1.79) 11.2 (0.40) 8.2 (0.42) 12.6 (1.32) 28.1 (2.54) 10.9 (0.40) 7.6 (0.41) 14.4 (1.34) 26.9 (2.52)
19944  11.4 (0.26) 7.7 (0.27) 12.6 (0.75) 30.0 (1.16) 12.3 (0.38) 8.0 (0.38) 14.1 (1.14) 31.6 (1.60) 10.6 (0.36) 7.5 (0.37) 11.3 (0.99) 28.1 (1.66)
                                                 
19954  12.0 (0.27) 8.6 (0.28) 12.1 (0.74) 30.0 (1.15) 12.2 (0.38) 9.0 (0.40) 11.1 (1.05) 30.0 (1.59) 11.7 (0.37) 8.2 (0.39) 12.9 (1.05) 30.0 (1.66)
19964  11.1 (0.27) 7.3 (0.27) 13.0 (0.80) 29.4 (1.19) 11.4 (0.38) 7.3 (0.38) 13.5 (1.18) 30.3 (1.67) 10.9 (0.38) 7.3 (0.39) 12.5 (1.08) 28.3 (1.69)
19974  11.0 (0.27) 7.6 (0.28) 13.4 (0.80) 25.3 (1.11) 11.9 (0.39) 8.5 (0.41) 13.3 (1.16) 27.0 (1.55) 10.1 (0.36) 6.7 (0.37) 13.5 (1.11) 23.4 (1.59)
19984  11.8 (0.27) 7.7 (0.28) 13.8 (0.81) 29.5 (1.12) 13.3 (0.40) 8.6 (0.41) 15.5 (1.24) 33.5 (1.59) 10.3 (0.36) 6.9 (0.37) 12.2 (1.05) 25.0 (1.56)
19994  11.2 (0.26) 7.3 (0.27) 12.6 (0.77) 28.6 (1.11) 11.9 (0.38) 7.7 (0.39) 12.1 (1.10) 31.0 (1.58) 10.5 (0.36) 6.9 (0.37) 13.0 (1.08) 26.0 (1.54)
                                                 
20004  10.9 (0.26) 6.9 (0.26) 13.1 (0.78) 27.8 (1.08) 12.0 (0.38) 7.0 (0.37) 15.3 (1.20) 31.8 (1.56) 9.9 (0.35) 6.9 (0.37) 11.1 (1.00) 23.5 (1.48)
20014  10.7 (0.25) 7.3 (0.26) 10.9 (0.71) 27.0 (1.06) 12.2 (0.38) 7.9 (0.39) 13.0 (1.12) 31.6 (1.55) 9.3 (0.34) 6.7 (0.36) 9.0 (0.90) 22.1 (1.42)
20024  10.5 (0.24) 6.5 (0.24) 11.3 (0.70) 25.7 (0.93) 11.8 (0.35) 6.7 (0.35) 12.8 (1.07) 29.6 (1.32) 9.2 (0.32) 6.3 (0.34) 9.9 (0.91) 21.2 (1.27)
20034,5  9.9 (0.23) 6.3 (0.24) 10.9 (0.69) 23.5 (0.90) 11.3 (0.34) 7.1 (0.35) 12.5 (1.05) 26.7 (1.29) 8.4 (0.30) 5.6 (0.32) 9.5 (0.89) 20.1 (1.23)
20044,5  10.3 (0.23) 6.8 (0.24) 11.8 (0.70) 23.8 (0.89) 11.6 (0.34) 7.1 (0.35) 13.5 (1.08) 28.5 (1.30) 9.0 (0.31) 6.4 (0.34) 10.2 (0.92) 18.5 (1.18)
                                                 
20054,5  9.4 (0.22) 6.0 (0.23) 10.4 (0.66) 22.4 (0.87) 10.8 (0.33) 6.6 (0.34) 12.0 (1.02) 26.4 (1.26) 8.0 (0.29) 5.3 (0.31) 9.0 (0.86) 18.1 (1.16)
20064,5  9.3 (0.22) 5.8 (0.23) 10.7 (0.66) 22.1 (0.86) 10.3 (0.33) 6.4 (0.33) 9.7 (0.91) 25.7 (1.25) 8.3 (0.30) 5.3 (0.31) 11.7 (0.96) 18.1 (1.15)
20074,5  8.7 (0.21) 5.3 (0.22) 8.4 (0.59) 21.4 (0.83) 9.8 (0.32) 6.0 (0.32) 8.0 (0.82) 24.7 (1.22) 7.7 (0.29) 4.5 (0.28) 8.8 (0.84) 18.0 (1.13)
— Not available.
† Not applicable.
1 Includes other racial/ethnic categories not separately shown.
2 Based on the April 1960 decennial census.
3 White and Black include persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
4 Because of changes in data collection procedures, data may not be comparable with figures for years prior to 1992.
5 White and Black exclude persons identifying themselves as more than one race.
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. All data except for 1960 are based on October counts. Data are based on sample surveys of the civilian noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons in prisons, persons in the military, and other persons not living in households. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity except where otherwise noted. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October 1967 through October 2007. (This table was prepared July 2008.)

2008 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest