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Digest of Education Statistics
2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 100. High school graduates, by sex and control of school: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2007-08
School year High school graduates (in thousands) Averaged freshman graduation rate for public schools4 
Total1  Sex Control
Males Females Public2  Private3 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1869-70 16 7 9
1879-80 24 11 13
1889-90 44 19 25 22 22
1899-1900 95 38 57 62 33
1909-10 156 64 93 111 45
             
1919-20 311 124 188 231 80
1929-30 667 300 367 592 75
1939-40 1,221 579 643 1,143 78
1949-50 1,200 571 629 1,063 136
1959-60 1,858 895 963 1,627 231
             
1960-61 1,964 955 1,009 1,725 239
1961-62 1,918 938 980 1,678 240
1962-63 1,943 956 987 1,710 233
1963-64 2,283 1,120 1,163 2,008 275
1964-65 2,658 1,311 1,347 2,360 298
             
1965-66 2,665 1,323 1,342 2,367 298
1966-67 2,672 1,328 1,344 2,374 298
1967-68 2,695 1,338 1,357 2,395 300
1968-69 2,822 1,399 1,423 2,522 300
1969-70 2,889 1,430 1,459 2,589 300 78.7
             
1970-71 2,938 1,454 1,484 2,638 300 78.0
1971-72 3,002 1,487 1,515 2,700 302 77.4
1972-73 3,035 1,500 1,535 2,729 306 76.8
1973-74 3,073 1,512 1,561 2,763 310 75.4
1974-75 3,133 1,542 1,591 2,823 310 74.9
             
1975-76 3,148 1,552 1,596 2,837 311 74.9
1976-77 3,152 1,548 1,604 2,837 315 74.4
1977-78 3,127 1,531 1,596 2,825 302 73.2
1978-79 3,101 1,517 1,584 2,801 300 71.9
1979-80 3,043 1,491 1,552 2,748 295 71.5
             
1980-81 3,020 1,483 1,537 2,725 295 72.2
1981-82 2,995 1,471 1,524 2,705 290 72.9
1982-83 2,888 1,437 1,451 2,598 290 73.8
1983-84 2,767 2,495 272 74.5
1984-85 2,677 2,414 263 74.2
             
1985-86 2,643 2,383 260 74.3
1986-87 2,694 2,429 265 74.3
1987-88 2,773 2,500 273 74.2
1988-89 2,744 2,459 285 73.4
1989-90 2,589 2,320 269 73.6
             
1990-91 2,493 2,235 258 73.7
1991-92 2,478 2,226 252 74.2
1992-93 2,480 2,233 247 73.8
1993-94 2,464 2,221 243 73.1
1994-95 2,520 2,274 246 71.8
             
1995-96 2,518 2,273 245 71.0
1996-97 2,612 2,358 254 71.3
1997-98 2,704 2,439 265 71.3
1998-99 2,759 2,486 273 71.1
1999-2000 2,833 2,554 279 71.7
             
2000-01 2,848 2,569 279 71.7
2001-02 2,907 2,622 285 72.6
2002-03 3,016 2,720 296 73.9
2003-045  3,052 2,753 299 74.3
2004-05 3,103 2,799 304 74.7
             
2005-066  3,191 2,882 309 75.2
2006-076  3,240 2,929 311 74.8
2007-086  3,303 2,988 315 74.4
— Not available.
1 Includes graduates of public and private schools.
2 Data for 1929-30 and preceding years are from Statistics of Public High Schools and exclude graduates from high schools that failed to report to the Office of Education.
3 For most years, private school data have been estimated based on periodic private school surveys.
4 The averaged freshman graduation rate provides an estimate of the percentage of students who receive a regular diploma within 4 years of entering ninth grade. The rate uses aggregate student enrollment data to estimate the size of an incoming freshman class and aggregate counts of the number of diplomas awarded 4 years later.
5 Includes estimates for New York and Wisconsin. Without estimates for these two states, the averaged freshman graduation rate for the remaining 48 states and the District of Columbia is 75.0 percent.
6 Projected.
NOTE: Includes graduates of regular day school programs. Excludes graduates of other pro­grams, when separately reported, and recipients of high school equivalency certificates. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1870 through 1910; Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1919-20 through 1949-50; Statistics of State School Systems, 1951-52 through 1957-58; Statistics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Systems, 1958-59 through 1980-81; Statistics of Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1959 through 1980; Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1981-82 through 2005-06; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 1989 through 2003; and Projections of Education Statistics to 2016. (This table was prepared July 2007.)

2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest