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Tables: Secondary/High School


Table H125. Average number of credits and percentage of total credits that public high school graduates earned during high school, by curricular area: 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2009

  Average number of credits earned     Percent of total credits earned
Curricular area 1990   2000   2005   2009     1990   2000   2005   2009  
                                   
All curricular areas, total 23.5   25.9   26.7   26.9     100.0   100.0   100.0   100.0  
                                   
Academic, total 16.7   18.8   19.4   20.0     70.7   72.7   73.0   74.4  
Core academics, total 13.6   14.9   15.4   15.8     57.8   57.7   58.1   58.9  
English 4.2   4.4   4.4   4.4     17.9   17.0   16.7   16.7  
Mathematics 3.2   3.5   3.7   3.8     13.4   13.5   13.8   14.1  
Science 2.8   3.2   3.3   3.5     11.7   12.3   12.6   12.9  
Social studies 3.5   3.8   4.0   4.1     14.8   14.8   15.0   15.2  
Fine arts 1.6   2.0   2.1   2.1     6.5   7.7   7.6   7.7  
Foreign languages 1.5   1.9   2.0   2.1     6.4   7.3   7.3   7.8  
                                   
Enrichment/other 2.7   2.9   3.2   3.4     11.3   11.2   12.1   12.6  
                                   
Career/technical education (CTE), total 4.2   4.2   4.0   3.6     18.0   16.1   14.9   13.1  
Non-occupational CTE, total 1.5   1.4   1.4   1.1     6.5   5.2   5.1   4.1  
Family and consumer sciences education 0.5   0.4   0.4   0.3     2.1   1.5   1.5   1.3  
General labor market preparation, total 1.0   1.0   1.0   0.8     4.4   3.8   3.6   2.8  
Basic keyboarding/typewriting 0.5   0.3   0.2   0.1     2.1   1.2   0.7   0.3  
Career preparation 0.4   0.5   0.6   0.6     1.7   2.0   2.4   2.1  
Industrial arts 0.1   0.1   #   #     0.6   0.4   0.2   0.2  
Introduction to technology #   0.1   0.1   #     #   0.3   0.3   0.1  
Other general labor market preparation #   #   #   #     #   #   0.1   0.1  
                                   
Occupational education, total 2.7   2.9   2.6   2.5     11.4   10.9   9.8   9.0  
Agriculture and natural resources 0.2   0.3   0.2   0.2     0.9   0.9   0.8   0.7  
Business 0.8   0.7   0.5   0.4     3.6   2.6   1.9   1.5  
Business finance 0.2   0.2   0.1   0.1     0.9   0.6   0.4   0.4  
Business management 0.2   0.2   0.2   0.2     0.7   0.6   0.6   0.7  
Business support 0.5   0.4   0.2   0.1     2.0   1.4   0.8   0.4  
Communications and design 0.2   0.3   0.4   0.4     0.8   1.2   1.3   1.3  
Computer and information sciences 0.2   0.3   0.2   0.2     0.9   1.0   0.9   0.8  
Construction and architecture 0.1   0.1   0.1   0.1     0.5   0.5   0.4   0.4  
Architecture #   #   #   #     0.1   0.1   0.1   0.1  
Construction 0.1   0.1   0.1   0.1     0.4   0.4   0.4   0.3  
Consumer and culinary services 0.2   0.3   0.3   0.3     0.8   1.0   1.0   1.0  
Consumer services 0.2   0.2   0.2   0.2     0.7   0.7   0.6   0.6  
Culinary arts #   0.1   0.1   0.1     0.2   0.3   0.4   0.4  
Engineering technologies 0.2   0.2   0.2   0.1     0.7   0.7   0.6   0.5  
Health sciences #   0.2   0.2   0.2     0.2   0.5   0.6   0.7  
Manufacturing 0.3   0.2   0.2   0.2     1.4   0.9   0.8   0.6  
Marketing 0.2   0.1   0.1   0.1     0.7   0.5   0.5   0.4  
Public services #   0.1   0.1   0.1     0.1   0.3   0.3   0.4  
Education and library science #   0.1   #   #     0.1   0.2   0.1   0.2  
Education #   #   #   #     #   0.1   0.1   0.1  
Library science #   #   #   #     0.1   #   #   #  
Protective and legal services/                  
public administration #   #   #   0.1     #   0.1   0.2   0.2  
Protective services #   #   #   0.1     #   0.1   0.1   0.2  
Public administration and legal services #   #   #   #     #   #   #   #  
Repair and transportation 0.2   0.2   0.2   0.2     0.9   0.7   0.7   0.6  
Mechanics and repair 0.2   0.2   0.2   0.2     0.8   0.7   0.6   0.6  
Transportation #   #   #   #     0.1   #   #    
# Rounds to zero.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, High School Transcript Study (HSTS), 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2009.

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