Digest of Education Statistics
2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 219.90. Number and percentage distribution of 14- through 21-year-old students served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, who exited school, by exit reason, sex, race/ethnicity, age, and type of disability: 2018-19 and 2019-20
Year, sex, race/ethnicity, age, and type of disability Exited school Transferred to regular education Moved, known to be continuing4
Total Graduated with regular diploma Received alternative certificate1 Reached maximum age2 Dropped out3 Died
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2018-19
                 
Total number 422,564 304,019 42,835 5 4,705 69,476 1,529 58,282 164,243
Percentage distribution of total 100.0 71.9 10.1   1.1 16.4 0.4

Number by sex
                 
Male 273,591 194,183 27,804   3,053 47,485 1,066 37,924 107,358
Female 148,936 109,811 15,030   1,653 21,979 463 20,356 56,873

Number by race/ethnicity
                 
White 197,487 150,483 18,123   2,199 25,942 740 33,023 72,007
Black 88,909 58,232 10,502   696 19,103 376 7,689 41,513
Hispanic 107,203 74,125 11,833   1,351 19,603 291 12,871 38,778
Asian 7,897 6,154 892   277 541 33 1,554 2,050
Pacific Islander 1,639 1,163 124   37 297 18 337 516
American Indian/Alaska Native 6,345 4,515 227   41 1,540 22 781 2,820
Two or more races 13,085 9,347 1,134   105 2,450 49 2,027 6,559

Number by age6
                 
14 3,874 21 5   0 3,641 207 15,181 40,209
15 6,327 136 31   0 5,885 275 13,547 38,202
16 17,700 5,214 440   0 11,799 247 12,846 36,383
17 166,767 135,729 12,191   0 18,510 337 10,090 27,725
18 151,854 118,364 15,949   0 17,324 217 4,780 14,542
19 43,538 30,276 5,261   16 7,863 122 1,063 4,820
20 18,621 8,976 5,165   1,121 3,282 77 487 1,685
21 13,883 5,303 3,793   3,568 1,172 47 288 677

Number by type of disability
                 
Autism 36,221 25,844 6,659   1,211 2,422 86 3,318 9,857
Deaf-blindness 91 62 16   5 8 0 11 26
Emotional disturbance 37,130 22,331 2,282   194 12,200 123 4,748 22,715
Hearing impairment 4,684 3,865 383   55 369 12 657 1,300
Intellectual disability 35,487 16,944 11,513   1,774 5,025 231 1,295 12,008
Multiple disabilities 8,919 3,978 2,858   565 1,194 322 397 2,902
Orthopedic impairment 2,585 1,648 541   135 202 60 223 514
Other health impairment7 77,015 57,791 5,118   258 13,530 318 11,047 34,102
Specific learning disability 204,193 158,056 12,638   387 32,784 329 27,928 74,146
Speech or language impairment 11,722 9,985 341   44 1,337 14 8,214 5,635
Traumatic brain injury 2,743 2,045 340   51 270 27 228 604
Visual impairment 1,773 1,460 141   25 137 8 217 435

2019-20
                 
Total number 428,175 325,051 42,581 8 5,172 53,836 1,535 50,364 145,732
Percentage distribution of total 100.0 75.9 9.9   1.2 12.6 0.4

Number by sex
                 
Male 276,086 206,883 27,676   3,338 37,115 1,074 32,847 95,515
Female 152,034 118,123 14,903   1,833 16,714 461 17,513 50,191

Number by race/ethnicity
                 
White 196,634 155,639 16,938   2,850 20,519 688 28,579 64,583
Black 86,394 62,083 9,617   831 13,454 409 6,917 35,708
Hispanic 114,338 84,097 13,174   1,063 15,696 308 10,723 34,190
Asian 8,849 6,748 1,358   199 502 42 1,331 2,414
Pacific Islander 1,730 1,241 148   50 279 12 256 478
American Indian/Alaska Native 6,067 4,556 238   58 1,186 29 719 2,203
Two or more races 14,163 10,687 1,108   121 2,200 47 1,839 6,156

Number by age6
                 
14 3,080 10 2   0 2,861 207 13,184 37,500
15 4,811 105 11   0 4,424 271 11,530 33,729
16 16,104 6,816 371   0 8,629 288 11,300 31,880
17 168,268 141,327 12,341   0 14,281 319 9,011 23,790
18 161,417 130,998 16,207   1 13,999 212 3,772 12,276
19 42,389 30,929 5,237   16 6,103 104 917 4,034
20 18,283 9,668 4,872   1,066 2,589 88 420 1,756
21 13,823 5,198 3,540   4,089 950 46 230 767

Number by type of disability
                 
Autism 40,815 29,529 7,838   1,122 2,252 75 3,050 10,783
Deaf-blindness 106 62 20   20 3 1 5 26
Emotional disturbance 36,100 23,923 2,128   246 9,645 159 4,274 20,239
Hearing impairment 4,729 3,973 408   44 297 7 556 1,142
Intellectual disability 36,797 18,130 12,411   1,855 4,185 217 1,364 11,073
Multiple disabilities 9,202 4,039 3,080   861 914 308 397 2,759
Orthopedic impairment 2,328 1,524 504   77 179 45 213 553
Other health impairment7 80,072 63,804 4,738   328 10,883 319 9,982 31,041
Specific learning disability 202,235 166,428 10,669   506 24,278 354 23,327 62,242
Speech or language impairment 11,282 10,014 293   39 912 25 6,825 4,930
Traumatic brain injury 2,593 1,993 334   61 186 20 204 570
Visual impairment 1,915 1,633 158   15 103 6 166 375
†Not applicable.
1Received a certificate of completion, modified diploma, or some similar document, but did not meet the same standards for graduation as those for students without disabilities.
2Each state determines its maximum age to receive special education services. At the time these data were collected, the maximum age across states generally ranged from 20 to 22 years old.
3"Dropped out" is defined as the total who were enrolled at some point in the reporting year, were not enrolled at the end of the reporting year, and did not exit for any of the other reasons described.
4"Moved, known to be continuing" is the total number of students who moved out of the administrative area or transferred to another district and are known to be continuing in an educational program.
5In 2018–19, includes 2 students from one state who exited an educational program through receipt of an alternate diploma.
6Age data are as of the most recent child count prior to the students exiting special education, so some students may have been 1 year older at the time they exited school.
7Other health impairments include having limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, or diabetes.
8In 2019–20, includes 96 students from two states who exited an educational program through receipt of an alternate diploma.
NOTE: Data are for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Bureau of Indian Education, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Includes imputations for missing or unavailable data from Louisiana and Iowa in 2018–19 and from Iowa in 2019–20. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of reporting anomalies and rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Section 618 Data Products: State Level Data Files. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://data.ed.gov/dataset/idea-section-618-data-products-state-level-data-files. (This table was prepared February 2022.)

2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest