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Digest of Education Statistics: 2011
Digest of Education Statistics: 2011

NCES 2012-001
May 2012


Table 111. High school graduates, by sex and control of school: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2020-21
School year High school graduates Averaged freshman graduation rate for public schools3 Population 17 years old4 Graduates as a ratio of 17-year-old population
Total1 Sex Control
Males Females Public2 Private
Total Males Females Total
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1869-70 16,000 7,064 8,936   815,000 2.0
1879-80 23,634 10,605 13,029   946,026 2.5
1889-90 43,731 18,549 25,182 21,882 21,849 5  1,259,177 3.5
1899-1900 94,883 38,075 56,808 61,737 33,146 5  1,489,146 6.4
1909-10 156,429 63,676 92,753 111,363 45,066 5  1,786,240 8.8
1919-20 311,266 123,684 187,582 230,902 80,364 5  1,855,173 16.8
                       
1929-30 666,904 300,376 366,528 591,719 75,185 5  2,295,822 29.0
1939-40 1,221,475 578,718 642,757 1,143,246 538,273 604,973 78,229 5  2,403,074 50.8
1949-50 1,199,700 570,700 629,000 1,063,444 505,394 558,050 136,256 5  2,034,450 59.0
1959-60 1,858,023 895,000 963,000 1,627,050 791,426 835,624 230,973   2,672,000 69.5
1969-70 2,888,639 1,430,000 1,459,000 2,588,639 1,285,895 1,302,744 300,000 5  78.7 3,757,000 76.9
                       
1974-75 3,132,502 1,542,000 1,591,000 2,822,502 1,391,519 1,430,983 310,000 5  74.9 4,256,000 73.6
1975-76 3,142,120 1,552,000 1,590,000 2,837,129 1,401,064 1,436,065 304,991   74.9 4,272,000 73.6
1976-77 3,139,536 1,551,000 1,589,000 2,837,340 302,196   74.4 4,272,000 73.5
1977-78 3,128,824 1,546,000 1,583,000 2,824,636 304,188   73.2 4,286,000 73.0
1978-79 3,101,152 1,532,000 1,569,000 2,801,152 300,000 5  71.9 4,327,000 71.7
                       
1979-80 3,042,214 1,503,000 1,539,000 2,747,678 294,536   71.5 4,262,000 71.4
1980-81 3,020,285 1,492,000 1,528,000 2,725,285 295,000 5  72.2 4,212,000 71.7
1981-82 2,994,758 1,479,000 1,515,000 2,704,758 290,000 5  72.9 4,134,000 72.4
1982-83 2,887,604 1,426,000 1,461,000 2,597,604 290,000 5  73.8 3,962,000 72.9
1983-84 2,766,797 2,494,797 272,000 5  74.5 3,784,000 73.1
                       
1984-85 2,676,917 2,413,917 263,000 5  74.2 3,699,000 72.4
1985-86 2,642,616 2,382,616 260,000 5  74.3 3,670,000 72.0
1986-87 2,693,803 2,428,803 265,000 5  74.3 3,754,000 71.8
1987-88 2,773,020 2,500,020 273,000 5  74.2 3,849,000 72.0
1988-89 2,743,743 2,458,800 284,943   73.4 3,842,000 71.4
                       
1989-906  2,574,162 2,320,337 253,825 7  73.6 3,505,000 73.4
1990-91 2,492,988 2,234,893 258,095   73.7 3,417,913 72.9
1991-92 2,480,399 2,226,016 254,383 7  74.2 3,398,884 73.0
1992-93 2,480,519 2,233,241 247,278   73.8 3,449,143 71.9
1993-94 2,463,849 2,220,849 243,000 5  73.1 3,442,521 71.6
                       
1994-95 2,519,084 2,273,541 245,543   71.8 3,635,803 69.3
1995-96 2,518,109 2,273,109 245,000 5  71.0 3,640,132 69.2
1996-97 2,611,988 2,358,403 253,585   71.3 3,792,207 68.9
1997-98 2,704,050 2,439,050 1,187,647 1,251,403 265,000 5  71.3 4,008,416 67.5
1998-99 2,758,655 2,485,630 1,212,924 1,272,706 273,025   71.1 3,917,885 70.4
                       
1999-2000 2,832,844 2,553,844 1,241,631 1,312,213 279,000 5  71.7 4,056,639 69.8
2000-01 2,847,973 2,569,200 1,251,931 1,317,269 278,773   71.7 4,023,686 70.8
2001-02 2,906,534 2,621,534 1,275,813 1,345,721 285,000 5  72.6 4,023,968 72.2
2002-03 3,015,735 2,719,947 1,330,973 1,388,974 295,788   73.9 4,125,087 73.1
2003-046,8  3,054,438 2,753,438 1,347,800 1,405,638 301,000 5  74.3 4,113,074 74.3
                       
2004-05 3,106,499 2,799,250 1,369,749 1,429,501 307,249   74.7 4,120,073 75.4
2005-066  3,122,544 2,815,544 1,376,458 1,439,086 307,000 5  73.4 4,200,554 74.3
2006-07 3,199,650 2,893,045 1,414,069 1,478,976 306,605   73.9 4,297,239 74.5
2007-08 3,312,337 3,001,337 1,467,180 1,534,157 311,000 5  74.7 4,436,955 74.7
2008-096  3,347,828 3,039,015 1,490,317 1,548,698 308,813   75.5 4,336,950 77.2
                       
2009-109  3,321,380 3,013,400 307,980   76.3 4,311,831 77.0
2010-119  3,282,200 2,981,520 300,680   4,226,622 77.7
2011-129  3,220,050 2,926,440 293,610  
2012-139  3,197,300 2,912,480 284,820  
2013-149  3,153,500 2,874,500 279,000  
                       
2014-159  3,132,400 2,867,400 265,000  
2015-169  3,164,790 2,904,410 260,380  
2016-179  3,182,750 2,930,530 252,220  
2017-189  3,231,350 2,983,130 248,220  
2018-199  3,224,820 2,983,780 241,040  
                       
2019-209  3,182,520 2,950,880 231,640  
2020-219  3,209,510 2,981,170 228,340  
—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. Includes estimates for jurisdictions not reporting counts of graduates by sex.
3 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. Averaged freshman graduation rates in this table are based on reported totals of enrollment by grade and high school graduates, rather than on details reported by race/ethnicity.
4 Derived from Current Population Reports, Series P-25. For years 1869-70 through 1989-90, 17-year-old population is an estimate of the October 17-year-old population based on July data. Data for 1990-91 and later years are October resident population estimates prepared by the Census Bureau.
5 Estimated.
6 Includes imputations for nonreporting states.
7 Projected by private schools.
8 Includes estimates for public schools in 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.
9 Projected by NCES.
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 2009-10; Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data, 2007-08 and 2008-09; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 1989 through 2009; and Projections of Education Statistics to 2020. U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Population Estimates, retrieved August 11, 2011, from http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/2009-nat-res.html. (This table was prepared August 2011.)