Visit the Education Indicators for the White House Return to SSBR Home

-------- ACHIEVEMENT INDICATORS -------- International Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy Mathematics Achievement Reading Achievement -------- OTHER INDICATORS -------- Public School Revenues and Expenditures High School Transcripts, 2005 Bachelor's Degree Recipients, 10 Years Later Dropout Rates Trends in Academic Progress -------- PAST INDICATORS-------- Computer and Internet Use High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) Students Food and Exercise in Elementary Schools Trends in Adult Literacy First Generation Students in Postsecondary Education Mathematics Achievement Reading Achievement The High School Senior Class of 2004 Dropout Rates 2002 Dual Credit in U.S. Public High Schools Gender Differences in Postsecondary Education School Crime and Safety, 2002 International Comparisons in Science and Math Trends in Education Equity of Girls and Women Full-day and Half-day Kindergarten Reading Achievement Mathematics Achievement Dropout Rate 2001 Trends in Academic Progress International Comparisons in Reading Literacy Postsecondary Enrollment of Language Minorities Volunteer Service Civics Achievement Geography Achievement History Achievement Science Achievement Writing Achievement The High School Transcript Study Postsecondary Remedial Education Student Victimization Out-of-Field Teaching Postsecondary Attainment School Crime and Safety, 2001 Internet Access

Dropout Rate 2001

The status dropout rate represents the percentage of an age group that is not enrolled in school and has not earned a high school credential (i.e., diploma or equivalent, such as a GED). According to this measure, 11 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds were out of school without a high school credential in 2001.¹

Although the status dropout rate declined for young adults as a group between the early 1970s and 2001, it remained fairly stable from 1992 to 2001. Racial/ethnic differences exist in the status dropout rates and in the changes in the rates over time. Each year between 1972 and 2001, the status dropout rate was lowest for Whites and highest for Hispanics (figure 1). Since 1972, status dropout rates for Whites and Blacks ages 16-24 have declined; rates for Hispanics have not decreased and remain higher than those for other racial/ethnic groups. The gap between Blacks and Whites narrowed during the 1970s and 1980s, but not in the period since then.

Dropouts from high school are more likely to be unemployed and earn less when they are employed than those who complete high school.² In addition, high school dropouts are more likely to receive public assistance than high school graduates who do not go to college.³

Figure 1. Status Dropouts: Dropout rates of 16- to 24-year-olds, by race/ethnicity: October 1972-2001

NOTE: Due to relatively small sample sizes, American Indians or Alaska Natives and Asians or Pacific Islanders are included in the total but are not shown separately. The erratic nature of the Hispanic status rates reflects, in part, the historically small sample size of Hispanics. Black includes African American, and Hispanic includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.

SOURCE: U. S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. The Condition of Education 2003, NCES 2003-067, by John Wirt, Susan Choy, Stephen Provasnik, Patrick Rooney, Anindita Sen, and Richard Tobin. Washington, DC: 2003.

View data table for Figure One.

¹ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 2003.

² U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Dropout Rates in the United States: 2000.

³ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 1998.

Greater dropout rates among Hispanic immigrants partly account for the persistently high dropout rates for all Hispanic young adults. Among Hispanic 16- to 24-year-olds who were born outside the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the status dropout rate of 43 percent in 2001 was more than double the rates for first- or later-generation Hispanic young adults born in the United States (15 percent and 14 percent, respectively). Nevertheless, Hispanic young adults born in the United States are more likely to be high school dropouts than their peers of other race/ethnicities (table 1).

¹ Due to relatively small sample sizes, American Indians or Alaska Natives are included in the total but are not shown separately. Black includes African American, and Hispanic includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.

² Individuals defined as "first generation" were born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, and one or both of their parents were born outside the 50 states or the District of Columbia.

³ Individuals defined as "second generation or more" were born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, as were both of their parents.

Top