Skip Navigation
IES    
NCES
National Center for
Education Statistics
Menu
Contact
Tools
ED.gov
Newsflash
Search IES
Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 2007

NCES 2009-064
September 2009

Back Arrow List of Tables Download Excel Excel format (35 KB)

Table A-1. Summary table of high school dropout, completion, and graduation rates


Rate Current
statistic
(year)		 Age
group		 Description Purpose Equivalency
certificate
status
           
Event dropout rate 3.5 percent
'(2007)		 15–24 Percentage of
high school
students who
have dropped
out of grades
10–12 in the
past year		 Indicator of the
annual rate at
which U.S. high
school students
are leaving school
with an unsuc-
cessful outcome		 Students
who get an
equivalency
certificate
do not count
as dropouts.
           
Event dropout rate
(public school
students)		 3.9 percent
(2005–06)		 Grades
9–12		 Percentage of
public high
school students
who have
dropped out of
grades 9–12 in
a given year		 State-level
indicator of the
annual rate at
which public high
school students
are leaving school
with an unsuc-
cessful outcome		 Students who
get a state-
recognized
equivalency
certificate
do not count
 as dropouts.
           
Status dropout rate 8.7 percent
'(2007)		 16–24 Percentage of
people who are
not enrolled in
high school and
who do not have
a high school
credential		 Indicator of the
percentage of
young people
who lack a basic
high school
 education		 Students who
get a state-
recognized
equivalency
certificate
do not count
 as dropouts.
           
Status completion rate 89.0 percent
'(2007)		 18–24 Percentage of
young adults
who have left
high school and
who hold a high
school credential		 Indicator of the
percentage of
young adults
 who have a
basic high school
education		 People who have
earned an
equivalency
credential count
as completers.
           
Averaged freshman
graduation rate
(public school students)		 73.2 percent
 (2005–06)		 Grades
 9–12		 Percentage of
public high
school students
who graduate
with a regular
diploma 4 years
after starting
9th grade		 Indicator of
on-time grad-
uation from
 public schools		 High school
equivalency
credentials are
not counted as
“graduation.”
SOURCE: Stillwell, R., and Hoffman, L. (2009). Public School Graduates and Dropouts From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005–06 (NCES 2008-353rev), tables 1 and 7.

Back Arrow List of Tables Download Excel Excel format (35 KB)
IES    
NCES
National Center for
Education Statistics
Explore the Institute of Education Sciences