High school graduates, by sex and control of school; public high school averaged freshman graduation rate (AFGR); and total graduates as a ratio of 17-year-old population: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2028-29

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Table 219.10.

School year	High school graduates										Public school AFGR³	Population 17 years old⁴	Total graduates as a ratio of 17-year-old population⁵
	Total¹	Sex		Control
		Males	Females	Public²					Private, total
		Males	Females	Total	Males		Females		Private, 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	⁶	—	1,259,177	3.5
1899-1900	94,883	38,075	56,808	61,737	—		—		33,146	⁶	—	1,489,146	6.4
1909-10	156,429	63,676	92,753	111,363	—		—		45,066	⁶	—	1,786,240	8.8
1919-20	311,266	123,684	187,582	230,902	—		—		80,364	⁶	—	1,855,173	16.8

1929-30	666,904	300,376	366,528	591,719	—		—		75,185	⁶	—	2,295,822	29.0
1939-40	1,221,475	578,718	642,757	1,143,246	538,273		604,973		78,229	⁶	—	2,403,074	50.8
1949-50	1,199,700	570,700	629,000	1,063,444	505,394		558,050		136,256	⁶	—	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	⁶	78.7	3,757,000	76.9
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

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	⁶	72.2	4,212,000	71.7
1981-82	2,994,758	1,479,000	1,515,000	2,704,758	—		—		290,000	⁶	72.9	4,134,000	72.4
1982-83	2,887,604	1,426,000	1,461,000	2,597,604	—		—		290,000	⁶	73.8	3,962,000	72.9
1983-84	2,766,797	—	—	2,494,797	—		—		272,000	⁶	74.5	3,784,000	73.1

1984-85	2,676,917	—	—	2,413,917	—		—		263,000	⁶	74.2	3,699,000	72.4
1985-86	2,642,616	—	—	2,382,616	—		—		260,000	⁶	74.3	3,670,000	72.0
1986-87	2,693,803	—	—	2,428,803	—		—		265,000	⁶	74.3	3,754,000	71.8
1987-88	2,773,020	—	—	2,500,020	—		—		273,000	⁶	74.2	3,849,000	72.0
1988-89	2,743,743	—	—	2,458,800	—		—		284,943		73.4	3,842,000	71.4

1989-90⁷	2,574,162	—	—	2,320,337	—		—		253,825	⁸	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	⁸	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	⁶	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	⁶	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	⁶	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	⁶	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	⁶	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
2003-04^7,9	3,054,438	—	—	2,753,438	1,347,800		1,405,638		301,000	⁶	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
2005-06⁷	3,122,544	—	—	2,815,544	1,376,458		1,439,086		307,000	⁶	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	⁶	74.7	4,436,955	74.7
2008-09⁷	3,347,828	—	—	3,039,015	1,490,317		1,548,698		308,813		75.5	4,336,950	77.2

2009-10	3,435,022	—	—	3,128,022	1,542,684	¹⁰	1,585,338	¹⁰	307,000	⁶	78.2	4,311,831	79.7
2010-11	3,449,940	—	—	3,144,100	1,552,981		1,591,113		305,840		79.6	4,367,891	79.0
2011-12	3,455,405	—	—	3,149,185	1,558,489		1,590,694		306,220	⁶	80.8	4,294,530	80.5
2012-13	3,478,027	—	—	3,169,257	1,569,675		1,599,579		308,770		81.9	4,256,553	81.7
2013-14¹¹	3,479,930	—	—	3,168,450	—		—		311,480		83.1	4,185,547	83.1

2014-15¹²	3,530,250	—	—	3,187,000	—		—		343,250		—	4,171,850	84.6
2015-16¹¹	3,563,750	—	—	3,224,140	—		—		339,620		—	4,206,222	84.7
2016-17¹¹	3,599,700	—	—	3,255,320	—		—		344,380		—	4,221,958	85.3
2017-18¹¹	3,672,200	—	—	3,319,760	—		—		352,440		—	4,297,191	85.5
2018-19¹¹	3,683,540	—	—	3,331,520	—		—		352,020		—	4,230,390	87.1

2019-20¹¹	3,650,460	—	—	3,303,890	—		—		346,580		—	—	—
2020-21¹¹	3,682,230	—	—	3,330,840	—		—		351,390		—	—	—
2021-22¹¹	3,717,110	—	—	3,354,240	—		—		362,870		—	—	—
2022-23¹¹	3,726,140	—	—	3,372,640	—		—		353,500		—	—	—
2023-24¹¹	3,799,480	—	—	3,441,920	—		—		357,560		—	—	—

2024-25¹¹	3,855,370	—	—	3,492,860	—		—		362,520		—	—	—
2025-26¹¹	3,859,130	—	—	3,497,750	—		—		361,380		—	—	—
2026-27¹¹	3,774,260	—	—	3,416,680	—		—		357,580		—	—	—
2027-28¹¹	3,707,210	—	—	3,348,520	—		—		358,690		—	—	—
2028-29¹¹	3,722,010	—	—	3,361,890	—		—		360,120		—	—	—

—Not available.

¹ Includes graduates of public and private schools.

² Includes estimates for states not reporting counts of graduates by sex. 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 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 Based on persons of all ages graduating from high school in a given year divided by the 17-year-old population in the same year. This ratio allows for comparisons over time but does not provide a measure of graduation rates for incoming freshmen who form a cohort (or class) that is scheduled to graduate 4 years later. The ratio of high school graduates to the 17-year-old population differs from measures such as the AFGR (shown in column 9), which are designed to estimate high school cohort graduation rates.

⁶ Estimated.

⁷ Includes imputations for nonreporting states.

⁸ Projected by private schools responding to the Private School Universe Survey.

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ Includes estimate for Connecticut, which did not report graduates by sex.

¹¹Projected by NCES.

¹²Public school data are projected by NCES; private school data are actual.

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 and adjustments to protect student privacy.

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 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; "State Dropout and Completion Data File," 2005-06 through 2012-13; Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data, 2007-08 and 2008-09; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 1989 through 2015; and National High School Graduates Projection Model, 1972-73 through 2028-29. U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P-25, Nos. 1000, 1022, 1045, 1057, 1059, 1092, and 1095; 2000 through 2009 Population Estimates, retrieved August 14, 2012, from https://www.census.gov/popest/data/national/asrh/2011/index.html; and 2010 through 2017 Population Estimates, retrieved November 8, 2018, from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/popest/nation-detail.html. (This table was prepared March 2019.)

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