Elementary and Secondary Education

Student Effort, Persistence, and Progress

Table A-32-1. Averaged freshman graduation rate for public high school students and number of graduates, by state or jurisdiction: Selected school years, 1990–91 through 2008–09

State or jurisdiction	Averaged freshman graduation rate										Number of graduates
State or jurisdiction	1990–91	1995–96	2000–01	2005–06		2006–07	2007–08		2008–09		1990–91	1995–96	2000–01	2005–06		2006–07	2007–08		2008–09
United States	73.7	71.0	71.7	73.4	¹	73.9	74.7	¹	75.5	¹	2,234,893	2,273,109	2,569,200	2,815,544	¹	2,893,045	3,001,337	¹	3,039,015	¹

Alabama	69.8	62.7	63.7	66.2		67.1	69.0		69.9		39,042	35,043	37,082	37,918		38,912	41,346		42,082
Alaska	74.6	68.3	68.0	66.5		69.0	69.1		72.6		5,458	5,945	6,812	7,361		7,666	7,855		8,008
Arizona	76.7	60.8	74.2	70.5		69.6	70.7		72.5		31,282	30,008	46,733	54,091		55,954	61,667		62,374
Arkansas	76.6	74.2	73.9	80.4		74.4	76.4		74.0		25,668	25,094	27,100	28,790		27,166	28,725		28,057
California	69.6	67.6	71.6	69.2		70.7	71.2		71.0		234,164	259,071	315,189	343,515		356,641	374,561		372,310

Colorado	76.3	74.8	73.2	75.5		76.6	75.4		77.6		31,293	32,608	39,241	44,424		45,628	46,082		47,459
Connecticut	80.2	76.1	77.5	80.9		81.8	82.2		75.4		27,290	26,319	30,388	36,222		37,541	38,419		34,968
Delaware	72.5	70.4	71.0	76.3		71.9	72.1		73.7		5,223	5,609	6,614	7,275		7,205	7,388		7,839
District of Columbia	54.5	49.7	60.2	65.4		54.8	56.0		62.4		3,369	2,696	2,808	3,150		2,944	3,352		3,517
Florida	65.6	62.3	61.2	63.6		65.0	66.9		68.9		87,419	89,242	111,112	134,686		142,284	149,046		153,461

Georgia	70.3	61.9	58.7	62.4		64.1	65.4		67.8		60,088	56,271	62,499	73,498		77,829	83,505		88,003
Hawaii	75.9	74.5	68.3	75.5		75.4	76.0		75.3		8,974	9,387	10,102	10,922		11,063	11,613		11,508
Idaho	79.6	80.5	79.6	80.5		80.4	80.1		80.6		11,961	14,667	15,941	16,096		16,242	16,567		16,807
Illinois	76.6	75.2	75.6	79.7		79.5	80.4		77.7		103,329	104,626	110,624	126,817		130,220	135,143		131,670
Indiana	76.9	73.6	72.1	73.3		73.9	74.1		75.2		57,892	56,330	56,172	57,920		59,887	61,901		63,663

Iowa	84.4	84.3	82.8	86.9		86.5	86.4		85.7		28,593	31,689	33,774	33,693		34,127	34,573		33,926
Kansas	80.8	77.1	76.5	77.5		78.8	79.0		80.2		24,414	25,786	29,360	29,818		30,139	30,737		30,368
Kentucky	72.9	71.3	69.8	77.2		76.4	74.4		77.6		35,835	36,641	36,957	38,449		39,099	39,339		41,851
Louisiana	57.5	61.7	63.7	59.5		61.3	63.5		67.3		33,489	36,467	38,314	33,275		34,274	34,401		35,622
Maine	80.7	73.7	76.4	76.3		78.5	79.1		79.9		13,151	11,795	12,654	12,950		13,151	14,350		14,093

Maryland	77.5	78.3	78.7	79.9		80.0	80.4		80.1		39,014	41,785	49,222	55,536		57,564	59,171		58,304
Massachusetts	79.1	78.0	78.9	79.5		80.8	81.5		83.3		50,216	47,993	54,393	61,272		63,903	65,197		65,258
Michigan	72.1	71.4	75.4	72.2		77.0	76.3		75.3		88,234	85,530	96,515	102,582		111,838	115,183		112,742
Minnesota	90.8	86.1	83.6	86.2		86.5	86.4		87.4		46,474	50,481	56,581	58,898		59,497	60,409		59,729
Mississippi	63.3	59.7	59.7	63.5		63.5	63.9		62.0		23,665	23,032	23,748	23,848		24,186	24,795		24,505

Missouri	76.0	75.0	75.5	81.0		81.9	82.4		83.1		46,928	49,011	54,138	58,417		60,275	61,717		62,969
Montana	84.4	83.9	80.0	81.9		81.5	82.0		82.0		9,013	10,139	10,628	10,283		10,122	10,396		10,077
Nebraska	86.7	85.6	83.8	87.0		86.3	83.8		82.9		16,500	18,014	19,658	19,764		19,873	20,035		19,501
Nevada	77.0	65.8	70.0	55.8		54.2	56.3		56.3		9,370	10,374	15,127	16,455		17,149	18,815		19,904
New Hampshire	78.6	77.5	77.8	81.1		81.7	83.3		84.3		10,059	10,094	12,294	13,988		14,452	14,982		14,757

New Jersey	81.4	82.8	85.4	84.8		84.4	84.6		85.3		67,003	67,704	76,130	90,049		93,013	94,994		95,085
New Mexico	70.1	63.7	65.9	67.3		59.1	66.8		64.8		15,157	15,402	18,199	17,822		16,131	18,264		17,931
New York	66.1	63.6	61.5	67.4		68.9	70.9		73.5		133,562	134,401	141,884	161,817		168,333	176,310		180,917
North Carolina	71.3	66.5	66.5	71.8		68.6	72.8		75.1		62,792	57,014	63,288	76,710		76,031	83,307		86,712
North Dakota	87.6	89.5	85.4	82.2		83.1	83.8		87.4		7,573	8,027	8,445	7,192		7,159	6,999		7,232

Ohio	77.5	74.5	76.5	79.2		78.7	79.0		79.6		107,484	102,098	111,281	117,356		117,658	120,758		122,203
Oklahoma	76.5	75.6	75.8	77.8		77.8	78.0		77.3		33,007	33,060	37,458	36,497		37,100	37,630		37,219
Oregon	72.7	68.3	68.3	73.0		73.8	76.7		76.5		24,597	26,570	29,939	32,394		33,446	34,949		35,138
Pennsylvania	79.7	80.0	79.0	83.5		83.0	82.7		80.5		104,770	105,981	114,436	127,830		128,603	130,298		130,658
Rhode Island	75.0	72.7	73.5	77.8		78.4	76.4		75.3		7,744	7,689	8,603	10,108		10,384	10,347		10,028

South Carolina	66.6	60.9	56.5	61.0		58.9	62.2		66.0		32,999	30,182	30,026	34,970		35,108	35,303		39,114
South Dakota	83.8	84.5	77.4	84.5		82.5	84.4		81.7		7,127	8,532	8,881	8,589		8,346	8,582		8,123
Tennessee	69.8	66.6	59.0	70.7		72.6	74.9		77.4		44,847	43,792	40,642	50,880		54,502	57,486		60,368
Texas	72.2	66.1	70.8	72.5		71.9	73.1		75.4		174,306	171,844	215,316	240,485		241,193	252,121		264,275
Utah	77.5	76.9	81.6	78.6		76.6	74.3		79.4		22,219	26,293	31,036	29,050		28,276	28,167		30,463

Vermont	79.5	85.3	80.2	82.3		88.5	89.3		89.6		5,212	5,867	6,856	6,779		7,317	7,392		7,209
Virginia	76.2	76.2	77.5	74.5		75.5	77.0		78.4		58,441	58,166	66,067	69,597		73,997	77,369		79,651
Washington	75.7	75.5	69.2	72.9		74.8	71.9		73.7		42,514	49,862	55,081	60,213		62,801	61,625		62,764
West Virginia	76.6	77.0	75.9	76.9		78.2	77.3		77.0		21,064	20,335	18,440	16,763		17,407	17,489		17,690
Wisconsin	85.2	83.6	83.3	87.5		88.5	89.6		90.7		49,340	52,651	59,341	63,003		63,968	65,183		65,410
Wyoming	81.1	77.7	73.4	76.1		75.8	76.0		75.2		5,728	5,892	6,071	5,527		5,441	5,494		5,493

¹The 2005–06 national estimates include imputed data for the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. The 2007–08 estimate for Maine includes graduates from semiprivate schools. The 2008–09 national estimates include imputed data for California and Nevada.

NOTE: The averaged freshman graduation rate is the number of graduates divided by the estimated freshman enrollment count 4 years earlier. This count is the sum of the number of 8th-graders 5 years earlier, the number of 9th-graders 4 years earlier, and the number of 10th-graders 3 years earlier, divided by 3. Ungraded students were allocated to individual grades proportional to each state's enrollment in those grades. Graduates include only those who earned regular diplomas or diplomas for advanced academic achievement (e.g., honors diploma) as defined by the state or jurisdiction. For more information on measures of student progress and persistence, see Appendix C – Commonly Used Measures. For more information on the Common Core of Data (CCD), see Appendix B – Guide to Sources.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "NCES Common Core of Data State Dropout and Completion Data File," school year 2007–08; 2008-09, version 1a; and "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1990–91, Version 1b; 1995–96, Version 1b; 2000–01, Version 1b; 2005–06, Version 1b, and 2006–07, Version 1b.

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