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Digest of Education Statistics
2001 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 140. Average number of Carnegie units earned by public high school graduates in various subject fields, by student characteristics: 1982 to 1998

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                 |      |       |        |        Mathematics      |            Science            | For- |     | Voca- |      ||Compu-
     Student     |Total |English|History/|_________________________|_______________________________| eign |     |tional | Per- ||  ter
 characteristics |      |       | social |     |Less than| Algebra |Total|General|Biol-|Chem-|Phy- | lan- |Arts |educa- |sonal || sci-
                 |      |       |studies |Total| algebra |or higher|     |science| ogy |istry|sics |guages|     |tion\1\|use\2\||ence\3\
_________________|______|_______|________|_____|_________|_________|_____|_______|_____|_____|_____|______|_____|_______|______||_______
        1        |  2   |   3   |   4    |  5  |    6    |    7    |  8  |   9   | 10  | 11  | 12  |  13  | 14  |  15   |  16  ||  17
_________________|______|_______|________|_____|_________|_________|_____|_______|_____|_____|_____|______|_____|_______|______||_______
1982 graduates ..|21.58 |  3.93 |   3.16 |2.63 |    0.90 |    1.74 |2.20 |  0.73 |0.94 |0.34 |0.17 | 0.99 |1.47 |  4.62 | 2.58 ||  0.12
                 |______|_______|________|_____|_________|_________|_____|_______|_____|_____|_____|______|_____|_______|______||_______
  Male ..........|21.40 |  3.88 |   3.16 |2.71 |    0.94 |    1.77 |2.27 |  0.76 |0.91 |0.36 |0.23 | 0.80 |1.29 |  4.60 | 2.69 ||  0.14
  Female ........|21.75 |  3.98 |   3.15 |2.57 |    0.86 |    1.71 |2.13 |  0.71 |0.97 |0.33 |0.12 | 1.17 |1.63 |  4.64 | 2.48 ||  0.11
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Race/ethnicity |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    White .......|21.69 |  3.90 |   3.19 |2.68 |    0.77 |    1.91 |2.27 |  0.73 |0.97 |0.38 |0.20 | 1.06 |1.53 |  4.53 | 2.52 ||  0.13
    Black .......|21.15 |  4.08 |   3.08 |2.61 |    1.36 |    1.25 |2.06 |  0.81 |0.90 |0.26 |0.09 | 0.72 |1.26 |  4.75 | 2.60 ||  0.12
    Hispanic ....|21.23 |  3.94 |   3.00 |2.33 |    1.21 |    1.12 |1.80 |  0.75 |0.81 |0.16 |0.07 | 0.77 |1.29 |  5.22 | 2.87 ||  0.08
    Asian .......|22.46 |  4.01 |   3.16 |3.15 |    0.71 |    2.44 |2.64 |  0.51 |1.11 |0.61 |0.42 | 1.79 |1.31 |  3.34 | 3.05 ||  0.22
    American     |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
      Indian ....|21.45 |  3.98 |   3.25 |2.35 |    1.23 |    1.12 |2.04 |  0.67 |0.84 |0.42 |0.12 | 0.48 |1.72 |  4.77 | 2.84 ||  0.06
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Academic track |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    Academic\4\ .|21.75 |  4.11 |   3.32 |3.04 |    0.73 |    2.30 |2.65 |  0.73 |1.13 |0.53 |0.26 | 1.54 |1.91 |  2.55 | 2.62 ||  0.10
    Vocational\5\|20.21 |  3.44 |   2.63 |1.80 |    1.09 |    0.71 |1.32 |  0.69 |0.57 |0.04 |0.02 | 0.18 |0.59 |  7.74 | 2.51 ||  0.12
    Both\6\ .....|22.89 |  4.04 |   3.33 |2.69 |    1.02 |    1.67 |2.17 |  0.79 |0.94 |0.29 |0.14 | 0.75 |1.41 |  6.03 | 2.47 ||  0.18
    Neither\7\ ..|18.73 |  3.58 |   2.70 |1.73 |    1.08 |    0.65 |1.33 |  0.69 |0.59 |0.03 |0.02 | 0.22 |0.85 |  5.23 | 3.06 ||  0.05
                 |======|=======|========|=====|=========|=========|=====|=======|=====|=====|=====|======|=====|=======|======||=======
1987 graduates ..|23.00 |  4.12 |   3.32 |3.01 |    0.86 |    2.15 |2.54 |  0.76 |1.10 |0.47 |0.21 | 1.35 |1.44 |  4.55 | 2.67 ||  0.47
                 |______|_______|________|_____|_________|_________|_____|_______|_____|_____|_____|______|_____|_______|______||_______
  Male ..........|22.88 |  4.08 |   3.29 |3.05 |    0.91 |    2.14 |2.57 |  0.79 |1.05 |0.47 |0.26 | 1.16 |1.24 |  4.64 | 2.83 ||  0.47
  Female ........|23.12 |  4.15 |   3.35 |2.97 |    0.82 |    2.15 |2.52 |  0.74 |1.14 |0.47 |0.17 | 1.53 |1.63 |  4.47 | 2.51 ||  0.47
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Race/ethnicity |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    White .......|23.11 |  4.08 |   3.29 |3.01 |    0.74 |    2.27 |2.61 |  0.75 |1.12 |0.50 |0.23 | 1.38 |1.50 |  4.65 | 2.60 ||  0.49
    Black .......|22.40 |  4.22 |   3.34 |2.99 |    1.40 |    1.59 |2.32 |  0.90 |1.01 |0.31 |0.10 | 1.08 |1.20 |  4.52 | 2.73 ||  0.39
    Hispanic ....|22.84 |  4.30 |   3.22 |2.81 |    1.30 |    1.50 |2.24 |  0.78 |1.07 |0.29 |0.10 | 1.25 |1.34 |  4.49 | 3.19 ||  0.42
    Asian .......|24.47 |  4.37 |   3.65 |3.72 |    0.53 |    3.18 |3.13 |  0.59 |1.17 |0.87 |0.50 | 2.07 |1.18 |  3.11 | 3.23 ||  0.58
    American     |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
      Indian ....|23.23 |  4.22 |   3.18 |2.98 |    1.35 |    1.63 |2.44 |  0.81 |1.22 |0.32 |0.09 | 0.75 |1.68 |  4.92 | 3.06 ||  0.39
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Academic track |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    Academic\4\ .|23.20 |  4.26 |   3.55 |3.33 |    0.65 |    2.68 |2.97 |  0.73 |1.23 |0.68 |0.32 | 1.92 |1.87 |  2.57 | 2.73 ||  0.38
    Vocational\5\|21.07 |  3.62 |   2.59 |2.00 |    1.29 |    0.71 |1.48 |  0.74 |0.70 |0.03 |0.01 | 0.18 |0.47 |  8.07 | 2.67 ||  0.39
    Both\6\ .....|23.53 |  4.11 |   3.29 |2.93 |    0.97 |    1.96 |2.37 |  0.81 |1.07 |0.35 |0.14 | 1.01 |1.20 |  6.09 | 2.53 ||  0.64
    Neither\7\ ..|19.56 |  3.55 |   2.45 |2.11 |    1.62 |    0.49 |1.47 |  0.84 |0.59 |0.03 |0.00 | 0.18 |0.76 |  5.10 | 3.93 ||  0.17
                 |======|=======|========|=====|=========|=========|=====|=======|=====|=====|=====|======|=====|=======|======||=======
1990 graduates ..|23.53 |  4.19 |   3.47 |3.15 |    0.90 |    2.25 |2.75 |  0.85 |1.14 |0.53 |0.23 | 1.54 |1.55 |  4.19 | 2.68 ||  0.54
                 |______|_______|________|_____|_________|_________|_____|_______|_____|_____|_____|______|_____|_______|______||_______
  Male ..........|23.35 |  4.13 |   3.45 |3.16 |    0.96 |    2.20 |2.78 |  0.88 |1.11 |0.52 |0.28 | 1.33 |1.31 |  4.32 | 2.87 ||  0.50
  Female ........|23.69 |  4.25 |   3.50 |3.14 |    0.85 |    2.29 |2.73 |  0.83 |1.17 |0.53 |0.19 | 1.72 |1.76 |  4.08 | 2.51 ||  0.57
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Race/ethnicity |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    White .......|23.54 |  4.12 |   3.46 |3.13 |    0.80 |    2.33 |2.80 |  0.84 |1.15 |0.55 |0.25 | 1.58 |1.61 |  4.22 | 2.61 ||  0.52
    Black .......|23.40 |  4.34 |   3.49 |3.20 |    1.25 |    1.95 |2.68 |  0.98 |1.11 |0.42 |0.16 | 1.20 |1.34 |  4.41 | 2.74 ||  0.60
    Hispanic ....|23.83 |  4.51 |   3.42 |3.13 |    1.30 |    1.83 |2.50 |  0.83 |1.10 |0.42 |0.14 | 1.57 |1.48 |  4.12 | 3.10 ||  0.58
    Asian .......|24.07 |  4.50 |   3.70 |3.52 |    0.70 |    2.82 |2.97 |  0.68 |1.12 |0.74 |0.42 | 2.06 |1.29 |  3.07 | 2.96 ||  0.54
    American     |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
      Indian ....|22.64 |  4.08 |   3.34 |3.04 |    1.03 |    2.01 |2.48 |  0.83 |1.09 |0.42 |0.15 | 1.15 |1.11 |  4.62 | 2.81 ||  0.60
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Academic track |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    Academic\4\ .|23.53 |  4.30 |   3.65 |3.37 |    0.68 |    2.70 |3.06 |  0.81 |1.23 |0.70 |0.32 | 2.02 |1.93 |  2.41 | 2.78 ||  0.42
    Vocational\5\|21.73 |  3.60 |   2.58 |2.07 |    1.54 |    0.53 |1.62 |  0.87 |0.71 |0.03 |0.01 | 0.17 |0.42 |  8.68 | 2.59 ||  0.46
    Both\6\ .....|23.92 |  4.14 |   3.38 |3.02 |    1.12 |    1.90 |2.51 |  0.92 |1.09 |0.36 |0.14 | 1.07 |1.17 |  6.10 | 2.53 ||  0.73
    Neither\7\ ..|19.81 |  3.63 |   2.59 |2.01 |    1.57 |    0.44 |1.47 |  0.79 |0.60 |0.04 |0.03 | 0.21 |0.79 |  5.81 | 3.29 ||  0.36
                 |======|=======|========|=====|=========|=========|=====|=======|=====|=====|=====|======|=====|=======|======||=======
1994 graduates...|24.17 |  4.29 |   3.55 |3.33 |    0.76 |    2.57 |3.04 |  0.88 |1.26 |0.62 |0.28 | 1.71 |1.66 |  3.96 | 2.63 ||  0.64
                 |______|_______|________|_____|_________|_________|_____|_______|_____|_____|_____|______|_____|_______|______||_______
  Male ..........|24.00 |  4.26 |   3.51 |3.32 |    0.85 |    2.48 |3.03 |  0.91 |1.20 |0.59 |0.32 | 1.49 |1.43 |  4.13 | 2.83 ||  0.63
  Female ........|24.34 |  4.32 |   3.59 |3.34 |    0.68 |    2.66 |3.06 |  0.86 |1.31 |0.64 |0.24 | 1.93 |1.87 |  3.80 | 2.44 ||  0.65
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Race/ethnicity |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    White .......|24.33 |  4.23 |   3.56 |3.36 |    0.70 |    2.66 |3.13 |  0.89 |1.29 |0.65 |0.30 | 1.76 |1.74 |  3.96 | 2.61 ||  0.63
    Black .......|23.59 |  4.36 |   3.51 |3.23 |    1.09 |    2.14 |2.80 |  0.92 |1.21 |0.49 |0.17 | 1.35 |1.36 |  4.29 | 2.69 ||  0.64
    Hispanic ....|24.06 |  4.61 |   3.45 |3.28 |    0.96 |    2.32 |2.69 |  0.83 |1.19 |0.49 |0.17 | 1.73 |1.51 |  3.87 | 2.93 ||  0.76
    Asian .......|24.47 |  4.60 |   3.66 |3.66 |    0.67 |    2.98 |3.35 |  0.80 |1.22 |0.81 |0.48 | 2.09 |1.32 |  3.01 | 2.78 ||  0.71
    American     |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
      Indian ....|24.47 |  4.27 |   3.57 |3.11 |    0.94 |    2.17 |2.82 |  0.91 |1.28 |0.50 |0.13 | 1.30 |2.01 |  4.27 | 3.12 ||  0.53
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Academic track |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    Academic\4\ .|24.07 |  4.37 |   3.69 |3.52 |    0.58 |    2.94 |3.32 |  0.83 |1.34 |0.77 |0.37 | 2.14 |2.05 |  2.28 | 2.71 ||  0.50
    Vocational\5\|21.60 |  3.70 |   2.49 |2.20 |    1.56 |    0.64 |1.69 |  0.80 |0.83 |0.03 |0.02 | 0.14 |0.34 |  8.64 | 2.41 ||  0.55
    Both\6\ .....|24.61 |  4.23 |   3.45 |3.17 |    0.96 |    2.21 |2.78 |  0.96 |1.19 |0.45 |0.17 | 1.24 |1.21 |  6.01 | 2.52 ||  0.85
    Neither\7\ ..|21.28 |  3.54 |   2.24 |2.25 |    1.71 |    0.54 |1.53 |  0.82 |0.63 |0.05 |0.02 | 0.19 |0.56 |  6.51 | 4.47 ||  0.33
                 |======|=======|========|=====|=========|=========|=====|=======|=====|=====|=====|======|=====|=======|======||=======
1998 graduates...|25.14 |  4.25 |   3.74 |3.40 |    0.67 |    2.73 |3.12 |  0.89 |1.26 |0.66 |0.31 | 1.85 |1.90 |  3.99 | 2.89 ||  0.74
                 |______|_______|________|_____|_________|_________|_____|_______|_____|_____|_____|______|_____|_______|______||_______
  Male ..........|24.93 |  4.19 |   3.68 |3.37 |    0.74 |    2.64 |3.09 |  0.93 |1.20 |0.62 |0.33 | 1.62 |1.61 |  4.25 | 3.12 ||  0.78
  Female ........|25.36 |  4.31 |   3.80 |3.42 |    0.62 |    2.80 |3.17 |  0.87 |1.32 |0.70 |0.28 | 2.06 |2.15 |  3.77 | 2.67 ||  0.71
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Race/ethnicity |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    White .......|25.21 |  4.19 |   3.77 |3.40 |    0.57 |    2.84 |3.18 |  0.87 |1.28 |0.69 |0.33 | 1.90 |2.00 |  3.97 | 2.80 ||  0.73
    Black .......|24.83 |  4.28 |   3.69 |3.42 |    0.90 |    2.53 |3.03 |  0.97 |1.24 |0.58 |0.22 | 1.58 |1.57 |  4.33 | 2.94 ||  0.84
    Hispanic ....|25.08 |  4.51 |   3.60 |3.28 |    1.05 |    2.23 |2.81 |  0.97 |1.13 |0.50 |0.20 | 1.78 |1.78 |  3.97 | 3.36 ||  0.71
    Asian .......|25.23 |  4.37 |   3.92 |3.62 |    0.65 |    2.97 |3.43 |  0.81 |1.26 |0.83 |0.51 | 2.29 |1.52 |  3.15 | 2.95 ||  0.67
    American     |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
      Indian ....|24.43 |  4.18 |   3.67 |3.10 |    0.90 |    2.20 |2.68 |  0.98 |1.07 |0.49 |0.15 | 1.45 |1.94 |  4.02 | 3.40 ||  0.67
                 |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
  Academic track |      |       |        |     |         |         |     |       |     |     |     |      |     |       |      ||
    Academic\4\ .|24.91 |  4.33 |   3.87 |3.54 |    0.53 |    3.00 |3.34 |  0.84 |1.33 |0.78 |0.38 | 2.24 |2.41 |  2.22 | 2.97 ||  0.52
    Vocational\5\|22.60 |  3.46 |   2.55 |2.17 |    1.30 |    0.87 |1.69 |  1.05 |0.59 |0.03 |0.01 | 0.14 |0.47 |  9.12 | 3.01 ||  0.81
    Both\6\ .....|25.64 |  4.20 |   3.66 |3.30 |    0.81 |    2.49 |2.94 |  0.96 |1.20 |0.54 |0.23 | 1.45 |1.31 |  6.06 | 2.73 ||  1.03
    Neither\7\ ..|21.50 |  3.21 |   2.32 |2.19 |    1.59 |    0.60 |1.58 |  0.88 |0.58 |0.04 |0.08 | 0.20 |0.55 |  5.64 | 5.82 ||  0.51
_________________|______|_______|________|_____|_________|_________|_____|_______|_____|_____|_____|______|_____|_______|______||_______

\1\Includes nonoccupational vocational education, vocational general introduction, agriculture, business, marketing, health, occupational home economics, trade and industry, and technical courses.
\2\Includes personal and social courses, religion and theology, and courses not included in the other subject fields.
\3\Computer courses are included in mathematics and vocational categories.
\4\Includes students who complete at least 12 Carnegie units in academic courses, but less than 3 Carnegie units in any specific labor market preparation field.
\5\Includes students who complete at least 3 Carnegie units in a specific labor market preparation field, but less than 12 Carnegie units in academic courses.
\6\Includes students who complete at least 12 Carnegie units in academic courses and at least 3 Carnegie units in a specific labor market preparation field.
\7\Includes students who complete less than 12 Carnegie units in academic courses and less than 3 Carnegie units in a specific labor market preparation field.

NOTE: The Carnegie unit is a standard of measurement that represents one credit for the completion of a 1-year course. Data differ slightly from figures appearing in other NCES reports because of differences in taxonomies and case exclusion criteria.

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.)


2001 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest