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Digest of Education Statistics
2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 122. High school graduates, by sex and control of school: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2021-22
School year High school graduates Averaged freshman graduation rate for public schools3 Population 17
years old4
Graduates as a ratio of 17-year-old population
Total1 Sex Control
Males Females Public2   Private
Total Males Females Total
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1869-70 16,000 7,064 8,936       815,000 2.0
1879-80 23,634 10,605 13,029       946,026 2.5
1889-90 43,731 18,549 25,182 21,882     21,849 5 1,259,177 3.5
1899-1900 94,883 38,075 56,808 61,737     33,146 5 1,489,146 6.4
1909-10 156,429 63,676 92,753 111,363     45,066 5 1,786,240 8.8
1919-20 311,266 123,684 187,582 230,902     80,364 5 1,855,173 16.8
                           
1929-30 666,904 300,376 366,528 591,719     75,185 5 2,295,822 29.0
1939-40 1,221,475 578,718 642,757 1,143,246 538,273   604,973   78,229 5 2,403,074 50.8
1949-50 1,199,700 570,700 629,000 1,063,444 505,394   558,050   136,256 5 2,034,450 59.0
1959-60 1,858,023 895,000 963,000 1,627,050 791,426   835,624   230,973   2,672,000 69.5
1969-70 2,888,639 1,430,000 1,459,000 2,588,639 1,285,895   1,302,744   300,000 5 78.7 3,757,000 76.9
                           
1974-75 3,132,502 1,542,000 1,591,000 2,822,502 1,391,519   1,430,983   310,000 5 74.9 4,256,000 73.6
1975-76 3,142,120 1,552,000 1,590,000 2,837,129 1,401,064   1,436,065   304,991   74.9 4,272,000 73.6
1976-77 3,139,536 1,551,000 1,589,000 2,837,340     302,196   74.4 4,272,000 73.5
1977-78 3,128,824 1,546,000 1,583,000 2,824,636     304,188   73.2 4,286,000 73.0
1978-79 3,101,152 1,532,000 1,569,000 2,801,152     300,000 5 71.9 4,327,000 71.7
                           
1979-80 3,042,214 1,503,000 1,539,000 2,747,678     294,536   71.5 4,262,000 71.4
1980-81 3,020,285 1,492,000 1,528,000 2,725,285     295,000 5 72.2 4,212,000 71.7
1981-82 2,994,758 1,479,000 1,515,000 2,704,758     290,000 5 72.9 4,134,000 72.4
1982-83 2,887,604 1,426,000 1,461,000 2,597,604     290,000 5 73.8 3,962,000 72.9
1983-84 2,766,797 2,494,797     272,000 5 74.5 3,784,000 73.1
                           
1984-85 2,676,917 2,413,917     263,000 5 74.2 3,699,000 72.4
1985-86 2,642,616 2,382,616     260,000 5 74.3 3,670,000 72.0
1986-87 2,693,803 2,428,803     265,000 5 74.3 3,754,000 71.8
1987-88 2,773,020 2,500,020     273,000 5 74.2 3,849,000 72.0
1988-89 2,743,743 2,458,800     284,943   73.4 3,842,000 71.4
                           
1989-906 2,574,162 2,320,337     253,825 7 73.6 3,505,000 73.4
1990-91 2,492,988 2,234,893     258,095   73.7 3,417,913 72.9
1991-92 2,480,399 2,226,016     254,383 7 74.2 3,398,884 73.0
1992-93 2,480,519 2,233,241     247,278   73.8 3,449,143 71.9
1993-94 2,463,849 2,220,849     243,000 5 73.1 3,442,521 71.6
                           
1994-95 2,519,084 2,273,541     245,543   71.8 3,635,803 69.3
1995-96 2,518,109 2,273,109     245,000 5 71.0 3,640,132 69.2
1996-97 2,611,988 2,358,403     253,585   71.3 3,792,207 68.9
1997-98 2,704,050 2,439,050 1,187,647   1,251,403   265,000 5 71.3 4,008,416 67.5
1998-99 2,758,655 2,485,630 1,212,924   1,272,706   273,025   71.1 3,917,885 70.4
                           
1999-2000 2,832,844 2,553,844 1,241,631   1,312,213   279,000 5 71.7 4,056,639 69.8
2000-01 2,847,973 2,569,200 1,251,931   1,317,269   278,773   71.7 4,023,686 70.8
2001-02 2,906,534 2,621,534 1,275,813   1,345,721   285,000 5 72.6 4,023,968 72.2
2002-03 3,015,735 2,719,947 1,330,973   1,388,974   295,788   73.9 4,125,087 73.1
2003-046,8 3,054,438 2,753,438 1,347,800   1,405,638   301,000 5 74.3 4,113,074 74.3
                           
2004-05 3,106,499 2,799,250 1,369,749   1,429,501   307,249   74.7 4,120,073 75.4
2005-066 3,122,544 2,815,544 1,376,458   1,439,086   307,000 5 73.4 4,200,554 74.3
2006-07 3,199,650 2,893,045 1,414,069   1,478,976   306,605   73.9 4,297,239 74.5
2007-08 3,312,337 3,001,337 1,467,180   1,534,157   311,000 5 74.7 4,436,955 74.7
2008-096 3,347,828 3,039,015 1,490,317   1,548,698   308,813   75.5 4,336,950 77.2
                           
2009-10 3,434,672 3,128,022 1,542,684 9 1,585,338 9 306,650 5 78.2 4,311,831 79.7
2010-1110 3,402,920 3,103,540     299,380   78.6 4,366,222 77.9
2011-1210 3,392,650 3,100,510     292,140   4,290,663 79.1
2012-1310 3,375,660 3,092,290     283,370  
2013-1410 3,314,600 3,037,040     277,560  
                           
2014-1510 3,307,080 3,043,290     263,790  
2015-1610 3,325,230 3,066,000     259,230  
2016-1710 3,347,990 3,096,730     251,260  
2017-1810 3,396,230 3,148,670     247,560  
2018-1910 3,396,260 3,155,320     240,940  
                           
2019-2010 3,368,740 3,136,780     231,960  
2020-2110 3,392,510 3,163,350     229,160  
2021-2210 3,415,830 3,183,360     232,470  
—Not available.
1 Includes graduates of public and private schools.
2 Data for 1929-30 and preceding years are from Statistics of Public High Schools and exclude graduates from high schools that failed to report to the Office of Education. Includes estimates for jurisdictions not reporting counts of graduates by sex.
3 The averaged freshman graduation rate provides an estimate of the percentage of students who receive a regular diploma within 4 years of entering ninth grade. The rate uses aggregate student enrollment data to estimate the size of an incoming freshman class and aggregate counts of the number of diplomas awarded 4 years later. Averaged freshman graduation rates in this table are based on reported totals of enrollment by grade and high school graduates, rather than on details reported by race/ethnicity.
4 Derived from Current Population Reports, Series P-25. For years 1869-70 through 1989-90, 17-year-old population is an estimate of the October 17-year-old population based on July data. Data for 1990-91 and later years are October resident population estimates prepared by the Census Bureau.
5 Estimated.
6 Includes imputations for nonreporting states.
7 Projected by private schools responding to the Private School Universe Survey.
8 Includes estimates for public schools in New York and Wisconsin. Without estimates for these two states, the averaged freshman graduation rate for the remaining 48 states and the District of Columbia is 75.0 percent.
9 Includes estimate for Connecticut, which did not report graduates by sex.
10 Projected by NCES.
NOTE: Includes graduates of regular day school programs. Excludes graduates of other programs, when separately reported, and recipients of high school equivalency certificates. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1870 through 1910; Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1919-20 through 1949-50; Statistics of State School Systems, 1951-52 through 1957-58; Statistics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Systems, 1958-59 through 1980-81; Statistics of Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1959 through 1980; Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1981-82 through 2007-08; "State Dropout and Completion Data File," 2005-06 through 2009-10; Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data, 2007-08 and 2008-09; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 1989 through 2009; and Projections of Education Statistics to 2021. U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Population Estimates, retrieved August 11, 2011, from http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/2009-nat-res.html and Population estimates, retrieved October 19, 2012, from http://www.census.gov/popest/data/national/asrh/2011/index.html. (This table was prepared October 2012.)

2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest