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 Executive Summary Introduction Event and Status Dropout Rates Type of Dropout Rates Event Dropout Rates Status Dropout Rates High School Completion Rates High School Completion Rates Method of High School Completion Conclusions Text Tables and Figures Full Report (PDF)
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Age and Sex Data from the October 1999 CPS show that students who pursue a high school program beyond the traditional ages are at an increased risk of dropping out of school (table 1). Event dropout rates for younger students who were in the typical age range for high school enrollment (ages 15 through 18) were substantially lower than those of older students ages 19 through 24. Specifically, these rates were 3.4 percent for 15- and 16-year-olds, 3.4 percent for 17-year-olds, and 4.7 percent for 18-year-olds, compared with 11.1 percent for 19-year-olds, and 23.1 percent for 20- through 24-year-olds. Not only are older students more likely to drop out than younger students, but they also represent a disproportionate number of dropouts in 1999; students who were 19 through 24 accounted for about 1 of every 10 students in the 15- through 24-year-old age group, but represented 3 of every 10 high school dropouts. Although dropout rates were highest among students age 19 or older, about two-thirds (67.3 percent) of the current-year dropouts were ages 15 through 18. About two-fifths (43.2 percent) of all young adults who left school between October 1998 and October 1999 were ages 15, 16, and 17 in October 1999. These youths left school before reaching the typical age of school completion. The event dropout rates for male and female students did not differ significantly in 1999. Approximately 5 percent of males and 5 percent of females ages 15 through 24 enrolled in high school in October 1998 had dropped out of school by October 1999 (table 1).
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