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Digest of Education Statistics
2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 219.10. High school graduates, by sex and control of school; public high school averaged freshman graduation rate (AFGR); and total graduates as a ratio of 17-year-old population: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2028-29
School year High school graduates Public school
AFGR3
Population
17 years old4
Total graduates
as a ratio of
17-year-old
population5
Total1 Sex Control
Males Females Public2 Private, total
Total Males Females
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 6 1,259,177 3.5
1899-1900 94,883 38,075 56,808 61,737     33,146 6 1,489,146 6.4
1909-10 156,429 63,676 92,753 111,363     45,066 6 1,786,240 8.8
1919-20 311,266 123,684 187,582 230,902     80,364 6 1,855,173 16.8
                           
1929-30 666,904 300,376 366,528 591,719     75,185 6 2,295,822 29.0
1939-40 1,221,475 578,718 642,757 1,143,246 538,273   604,973   78,229 6 2,403,074 50.8
1949-50 1,199,700 570,700 629,000 1,063,444 505,394   558,050   136,256 6 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 6 78.7 3,757,000 76.9
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
                           
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 6 72.2 4,212,000 71.7
1981-82 2,994,758 1,479,000 1,515,000 2,704,758     290,000 6 72.9 4,134,000 72.4
1982-83 2,887,604 1,426,000 1,461,000 2,597,604     290,000 6 73.8 3,962,000 72.9
1983-84 2,766,797 2,494,797     272,000 6 74.5 3,784,000 73.1
                           
1984-85 2,676,917 2,413,917     263,000 6 74.2 3,699,000 72.4
1985-86 2,642,616 2,382,616     260,000 6 74.3 3,670,000 72.0
1986-87 2,693,803 2,428,803     265,000 6 74.3 3,754,000 71.8
1987-88 2,773,020 2,500,020     273,000 6 74.2 3,849,000 72.0
1988-89 2,743,743 2,458,800     284,943   73.4 3,842,000 71.4
                           
1989-907 2,574,162 2,320,337     253,825 8 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 8 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 6 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 6 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 6 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 6 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 6 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
2003-047,9 3,054,438 2,753,438 1,347,800   1,405,638   301,000 6 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
2005-067 3,122,544 2,815,544 1,376,458   1,439,086   307,000 6 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 6 74.7 4,436,955 74.7
2008-097 3,347,828 3,039,015 1,490,317   1,548,698   308,813   75.5 4,336,950 77.2
                           
2009-10 3,435,022 3,128,022 1,542,684 10 1,585,338 10 307,000 6 78.2 4,311,831 79.7
2010-11 3,449,940 3,144,100 1,552,981   1,591,113   305,840   79.6 4,367,891 79.0
2011-12 3,455,405 3,149,185 1,558,489   1,590,694   306,220 6 80.8 4,294,530 80.5
2012-13 3,478,027 3,169,257 1,569,675   1,599,579   308,770   81.9 4,256,553 81.7
2013-1411 3,479,930 3,168,450     311,480   83.1 4,185,547 83.1
                           
2014-1512 3,530,250 3,187,000     343,250   4,171,850 84.6
2015-1611 3,563,750 3,224,140     339,620   4,206,222 84.7
2016-1711 3,599,700 3,255,320     344,380   4,221,958 85.3
2017-1811 3,672,200 3,319,760     352,440   4,297,191 85.5
2018-1911 3,683,540 3,331,520     352,020   4,230,390 87.1
                           
2019-2011 3,650,460 3,303,890     346,580  
2020-2111 3,682,230 3,330,840     351,390  
2021-2211 3,717,110 3,354,240     362,870  
2022-2311 3,726,140 3,372,640     353,500  
2023-2411 3,799,480 3,441,920     357,560  
                           
2024-2511 3,855,370 3,492,860     362,520  
2025-2611 3,859,130 3,497,750     361,380  
2026-2711 3,774,260 3,416,680     357,580  
2027-2811 3,707,210 3,348,520     358,690  
2028-2911 3,722,010 3,361,890     360,120  
—Not available.
1 Includes graduates of public and private schools.
2 Includes estimates for states not reporting counts of graduates by sex. 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.
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 Based on persons of all ages graduating from high school in a given year divided by the 17-year-old population in the same year. This ratio allows for comparisons over time but does not provide a measure of graduation rates for incoming freshmen who form a cohort (or class) that is scheduled to graduate 4 years later. The ratio of high school graduates to the 17-year-old population differs from measures such as the AFGR (shown in column 9), which are designed to estimate high school cohort graduation rates.
6 Estimated.
7 Includes imputations for nonreporting states.
8 Projected by private schools responding to the Private School Universe Survey.
9 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.
10 Includes estimate for Connecticut, which did not report graduates by sex.
11Projected by NCES.
12Public school data are projected by NCES; private school data are actual.
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 and adjustments to protect student privacy.
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 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 2009-10; "State Dropout and Completion Data File," 2005-06 through 2012-13; Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data, 2007-08 and 2008-09; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 1989 through 2015; and National High School Graduates Projection Model, 1972-73 through 2028-29. U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P-25, Nos. 1000, 1022, 1045, 1057, 1059, 1092, and 1095; 2000 through 2009 Population Estimates, retrieved August 14, 2012, from https://www.census.gov/popest/data/national/asrh/2011/index.html; and 2010 through 2017 Population Estimates, retrieved November 8, 2018, from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/popest/nation-detail.html. (This table was prepared March 2019.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest