Youth Indicators 1996 / Indicator 65, Chart 1

Indicator 65. Earnings After High School

Average 1993 earnings for employed persons for the high school class of 1992, by completion status, postsecondary enrollment, sex, and race

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "National Education Longitudinal Study," Third Followup survey.

High school graduates earned relatively low salaries in the first full year following their expected graduation. The average earnings for graduates of the class of 1992 was $7,802. The dropouts and other noncompleters earned even less, $5,270. Many of the young people had no income at all. About 17 percent of the graduates not attending postsecondary education had no earnings, as did 33 percent of the dropouts.