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


Table 225.46. Percentage of public and private high school graduates who took selected science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM) courses in high school, by selected student and school characteristics: 2019
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected student or school characteristic Any STEM course Advanced mathematics course Advanced science and engineering course Technology course
Any advanced mathematics course Algebra II Precalculus/ analysis Calculus Other advanced mathematics Any advanced science and engineering course Advanced biology Chemistry Advanced environmental/ earth science Physics Engineering Any technology course Engineering/ science technologies Health science and technology Computer science
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Total 96.6   (0.16) 89.4   (0.28) 85.0   (0.42) 38.7   (0.61) 15.8   (0.39) 26.0   (0.66) 88.3   (0.40) 35.0   (0.56) 75.0   (0.58) 15.9   (0.49) 38.2   (0.75) 11.8   (0.44) 38.8   (0.62) 6.9   (0.27) 16.7   (0.33) 19.8   (0.60)

Sex
                                                                                               
Male 95.9   (0.20) 87.6   (0.38) 83.2   (0.49) 36.9   (0.66) 15.9   (0.45) 25.1   (0.69) 86.7   (0.42) 27.1   (0.55) 71.9   (0.64) 16.1   (0.58) 40.9   (0.80) 17.7   (0.59) 40.7   (0.65) 9.9   (0.41) 10.9   (0.33) 25.5   (0.66)
Female 97.2   (0.17) 91.2   (0.28) 86.9   (0.44) 40.5   (0.69) 15.7   (0.50) 26.9   (0.71) 89.9   (0.46) 43.2   (0.67) 78.1   (0.63) 15.6   (0.49) 35.4   (0.80) 5.7   (0.35) 36.8   (0.76) 3.9   (0.25) 22.7   (0.48) 13.9   (0.73)

Race/ethnicity
                                                                                               
White 96.9   (0.20) 90.9   (0.34) 87.1   (0.47) 41.8   (0.89) 18.3   (0.47) 27.5   (0.98) 89.1   (0.55) 37.1   (0.82) 75.5   (0.77) 16.3   (0.62) 37.7   (1.10) 13.2   (0.58) 39.1   (0.89) 8.6   (0.45) 14.9   (0.41) 20.6   (0.83)
Black 95.9   (0.36) 87.2   (0.80) 81.9   (1.02) 27.5   (0.94) 6.2   (0.41) 24.3   (1.17) 84.5   (0.73) 30.0   (0.82) 70.3   (0.90) 12.9   (0.62) 30.0   (1.25) 9.4   (0.63) 36.5   (1.19) 4.9   (0.62) 18.5   (0.84) 17.0   (0.85)
Hispanic 95.8   (0.29) 86.2   (0.60) 82.0   (0.74) 33.3   (0.94) 9.5   (0.50) 21.3   (0.83) 87.4   (0.51) 31.5   (0.81) 74.4   (0.81) 16.0   (0.76) 39.3   (1.11) 10.3   (0.54) 36.7   (0.87) 4.9   (0.30) 18.9   (0.63) 16.7   (0.78)
Asian 99.1   (0.24) 96.8   (0.37) 88.4   (0.95) 63.4   (1.73) 45.6   (1.81) 37.4   (1.53) 95.7   (0.47) 45.4   (1.36) 87.4   (1.20) 17.9   (1.33) 58.9   (1.80) 13.7   (0.87) 51.1   (1.38) 6.6   (0.66) 17.9   (1.05) 33.9   (1.60)
Pacific Islander 92.8   (3.19) 86.7   (3.97) 83.0   (3.92) 40.8   (5.15) 8.9   (2.36) 18.3   (4.19) 82.2   (4.59) 27.1   (5.46) 72.0   (4.86) 13.7   (3.40) 32.4   (4.78) 8.8   (2.60) 40.8   (4.64) 9.0   (4.06) 16.7   (3.27) 19.0   (4.04)
American Indian/Alaska Native 92.8   (1.15) 79.6   (2.04) 76.4   (2.37) 24.5   (2.50) 7.3   (1.28) 23.1   (3.20) 78.1   (2.30) 31.0   (2.50) 57.3   (3.62) 11.2   (1.84) 21.3   (2.53) 7.0   (1.30) 34.3   (3.08) 6.0   (1.37) 14.7   (2.11) 17.3   (3.03)
Two or more races 96.5   (0.63) 90.8   (0.85) 86.2   (1.18) 41.3   (1.77) 18.7   (1.27) 29.2   (1.59) 87.3   (0.99) 36.2   (1.53) 75.7   (1.43) 19.5   (1.34) 39.2   (1.90) 10.7   (1.02) 41.6   (1.80) 6.5   (0.69) 18.9   (1.34) 20.9   (1.66)

English learner (EL) status
                                                                                               
EL 91.0   (0.98) 74.6   (1.50) 68.4   (1.75) 16.8   (1.91) 3.1   (0.62) 16.8   (1.14) 77.0   (1.46) 18.2   (1.56) 60.7   (1.97) 10.9   (1.11) 34.1   (1.90) 8.1   (1.00) 35.4   (1.52) 5.8   (0.66) 14.6   (1.02) 18.7   (1.23)
Non-EL 96.8   (0.16) 90.2   (0.26) 85.8   (0.40) 39.7   (0.62) 16.4   (0.41) 26.4   (0.68) 88.7   (0.40) 35.8   (0.57) 75.6   (0.59) 16.0   (0.50) 38.4   (0.78) 11.9   (0.44) 38.9   (0.64) 7.0   (0.29) 16.8   (0.33) 19.9   (0.63)

Enrollment size of school
                                                                                               
Under 500 95.7   (0.58) 86.6   (1.15) 81.8   (1.58) 33.5   (2.09) 12.7   (1.10) 20.0   (1.62) 86.3   (1.21) 35.8   (1.79) 72.1   (1.69) 7.9   (1.09) 32.3   (2.49) 9.8   (1.02) 37.8   (1.99) 7.9   (1.07) 13.6   (1.14) 20.4   (1.68)
500 to 999 96.4   (0.55) 90.7   (1.11) 86.1   (1.42) 38.4   (1.65) 15.9   (1.02) 24.3   (1.67) 89.2   (0.96) 39.8   (1.74) 75.8   (1.67) 11.5   (1.31) 38.0   (2.27) 13.1   (1.22) 37.7   (1.74) 6.8   (0.79) 14.5   (1.01) 20.8   (1.69)
1,000 to 1,499 97.1   (0.31) 90.8   (0.74) 87.1   (0.95) 38.4   (1.71) 15.0   (0.78) 27.9   (1.41) 86.0   (1.04) 34.0   (1.16) 71.3   (1.49) 15.4   (1.32) 35.7   (1.79) 12.6   (0.93) 41.5   (1.43) 10.2   (1.10) 17.8   (0.83) 19.1   (1.14)
1,500 to 1,999 96.7   (0.30) 90.1   (0.66) 86.2   (0.79) 40.2   (1.14) 18.1   (0.87) 28.3   (1.11) 87.9   (0.79) 32.3   (0.83) 74.8   (1.38) 17.5   (0.90) 37.1   (1.78) 13.9   (0.92) 39.3   (1.20) 6.3   (0.73) 18.7   (0.90) 19.1   (0.76)
2,000 or more 96.7   (0.25) 88.9   (0.56) 84.0   (0.73) 41.2   (1.13) 16.6   (0.71) 28.0   (1.05) 90.8   (0.53) 34.0   (0.83) 79.1   (0.98) 23.3   (0.83) 44.7   (1.34) 10.2   (0.51) 37.9   (0.82) 4.6   (0.38) 18.1   (0.63) 19.7   (0.72)

School locale
                                                                                               
City 97.3   (0.29) 90.7   (0.51) 84.6   (0.78) 40.7   (1.17) 16.1   (0.72) 26.4   (0.97) 89.8   (0.65) 33.7   (0.93) 76.8   (1.07) 15.8   (0.74) 45.5   (1.32) 10.7   (0.71) 37.8   (1.24) 5.1   (0.50) 16.2   (0.81) 20.5   (0.98)
Large 98.3   (0.27) 93.0   (0.67) 86.2   (1.14) 39.7   (1.69) 15.3   (1.01) 25.1   (1.58) 90.2   (0.91) 30.7   (1.09) 78.5   (1.49) 14.1   (1.19) 47.0   (1.65) 10.6   (0.84) 37.7   (1.84) 5.2   (0.94) 14.4   (1.18) 21.8   (1.41)
Midsize 95.7   (0.89) 88.1   (1.56) 82.0   (2.62) 41.3   (2.84) 15.2   (1.78) 26.4   (1.82) 88.5   (1.40) 34.5   (2.39) 73.9   (2.45) 16.4   (2.02) 46.9   (3.26) 11.3   (1.47) 37.7   (2.38) 4.9   (0.74) 18.0   (1.70) 18.7   (2.29)
Small 96.8   (0.52) 88.7   (1.15) 83.9   (1.35) 42.1   (1.94) 18.1   (1.29) 28.6   (1.97) 90.0   (1.15) 38.3   (2.15) 76.2   (2.38) 18.3   (1.46) 41.8   (2.54) 10.5   (1.07) 38.0   (1.84) 5.0   (0.72) 17.9   (1.44) 19.5   (1.43)
Suburban 96.6   (0.21) 89.5   (0.48) 85.4   (0.62) 41.5   (0.85) 18.8   (0.62) 26.5   (0.90) 89.8   (0.48) 34.8   (0.81) 77.8   (0.69) 19.3   (0.75) 39.4   (1.03) 12.5   (0.67) 38.0   (0.91) 7.1   (0.50) 15.7   (0.58) 20.0   (0.77)
Large 96.8   (0.21) 89.6   (0.53) 85.5   (0.67) 42.5   (0.96) 19.3   (0.69) 26.6   (0.94) 90.6   (0.49) 35.1   (0.87) 78.8   (0.79) 19.6   (0.85) 41.2   (1.06) 13.0   (0.78) 37.5   (0.96) 6.9   (0.50) 15.5   (0.62) 20.0   (0.90)
Midsize 95.0   (0.79) 88.1   (1.35) 85.4   (1.40) 33.5   (2.26) 14.8   (1.61) 25.4   (2.40) 84.9   (2.17) 31.2   (2.93) 69.2   (3.06) 21.4   (2.68) 29.7   (3.19) 10.0   (1.72) 40.6   (1.86) 6.7   (1.08) 18.8   (1.55) 19.6   (2.41)
Small 95.9   (1.36) 88.7   (3.24) 83.5   (4.85) 36.7   (6.74) 16.3   (2.77) 25.2   (6.88) 83.1   (2.40) 36.0   (3.31) 73.6   (3.13) 12.0   (2.84) 24.7   (3.99) 7.9   (1.78) 41.6   (5.97) 12.0 ! (4.81) 13.8   (2.70) 20.6   (3.00)
Town 95.0   (0.63) 87.4   (1.03) 85.0   (1.19) 32.1   (2.08) 11.6   (0.91) 22.9   (1.84) 83.3   (1.21) 32.7   (1.58) 69.5   (1.76) 9.3   (1.48) 25.5   (1.88) 11.8   (1.26) 39.8   (2.13) 8.9   (1.64) 20.5   (1.12) 15.4   (1.45)
Fringe 96.4   (0.70) 87.8   (1.96) 85.5   (1.98) 34.7   (3.45) 12.0   (1.46) 26.5   (4.35) 85.6   (2.04) 27.3   (3.17) 70.4   (2.82) 17.8   (2.95) 26.7   (2.96) 14.4   (2.49) 43.0   (3.36) 11.0   (3.16) 23.0   (2.16) 14.9   (1.67)
Distant 95.7   (1.00) 88.0   (1.74) 84.8   (2.23) 32.3   (2.95) 12.3   (1.34) 24.3   (2.55) 84.0   (2.19) 36.8   (2.65) 71.9   (3.15) 5.8   (1.53) 26.5   (3.40) 10.7   (1.82) 37.1   (3.99) 8.4 ! (3.14) 18.2   (1.78) 14.5   (2.58)
Remote 92.8   (1.36) 85.9   (2.37) 84.8   (2.41) 29.2   (4.63) 10.2   (2.14) 17.0   (2.32) 80.0   (2.52) 31.6   (2.53) 64.8   (3.14) 6.5 ! (2.51) 22.7   (2.65) 10.9   (2.56) 40.8   (2.94) 7.6   (1.27) 21.8   (2.10) 17.4   (2.88)
Rural 96.1   (0.52) 88.3   (0.93) 84.8   (1.16) 33.4   (1.29) 11.6   (0.68) 26.2   (1.59) 85.7   (1.22) 38.8   (1.73) 69.6   (1.62) 12.7   (1.30) 31.7   (2.05) 12.1   (1.07) 41.5   (1.75) 8.3   (1.05) 17.6   (0.98) 20.9   (1.56)
Fringe 96.3   (0.56) 90.0   (0.89) 85.4   (1.31) 38.2   (1.69) 14.0   (0.93) 30.3   (2.19) 86.0   (1.49) 36.6   (2.12) 73.2   (1.90) 15.3   (1.85) 34.7   (2.25) 14.0   (1.41) 40.5   (1.89) 7.6   (0.91) 17.6   (1.23) 20.3   (1.94)
Distant 95.9   (1.15) 85.2   (2.47) 84.0   (2.48) 24.7   (2.42) 8.5   (1.24) 17.0   (2.51) 85.8   (2.24) 46.3   (3.60) 65.0   (3.17) 8.0   (2.20) 26.3   (3.50) 7.7   (1.89) 44.6   (4.54) 12.0   (3.43) 15.4   (1.82) 23.7   (3.74)
Remote 95.4   (1.27) 84.8   (3.17) 83.1   (3.86) 23.8   (4.80) 4.3 ! (1.38) 20.9   (4.15) 83.2   (2.86) 36.0   (4.22) 57.9   (4.47) 7.1 ! (2.34) 24.9   (5.00) 9.8 ! (3.33) 40.6   (4.06) 4.9   (1.46) 22.6   (3.17) 18.3   (3.52)

School region
                                                                                               
Northeast 96.7   (0.46) 88.7   (1.04) 83.3   (1.37) 41.3   (1.56) 24.3   (1.33) 27.8   (1.63) 89.4   (1.07) 31.3   (1.49) 76.8   (1.70) 15.5   (1.28) 47.2   (1.87) 16.1   (1.39) 39.7   (1.72) 11.3   (0.93) 8.3   (0.71) 25.4   (1.86)
Midwest 97.0   (0.33) 91.4   (0.66) 87.5   (1.02) 35.7   (1.65) 15.1   (0.86) 24.7   (1.54) 89.2   (0.83) 36.8   (1.68) 76.8   (1.31) 10.2   (1.02) 39.1   (1.64) 11.5   (0.83) 39.4   (1.32) 9.3   (0.81) 14.1   (1.01) 21.1   (1.19)
South 97.3   (0.23) 91.4   (0.48) 86.9   (0.74) 41.4   (0.81) 13.1   (0.45) 29.3   (0.99) 89.1   (0.58) 37.4   (0.78) 76.6   (0.83) 19.8   (0.82) 38.9   (1.02) 11.9   (0.61) 39.4   (1.10) 5.2   (0.42) 20.1   (0.67) 18.3   (0.92)
West 94.8   (0.42) 84.8   (0.80) 80.8   (0.88) 35.0   (1.23) 15.4   (0.71) 20.5   (0.89) 85.3   (0.88) 32.0   (1.07) 69.7   (1.25) 14.6   (1.02) 30.4   (1.33) 9.2   (0.56) 36.8   (1.10) 5.1   (0.52) 18.8   (0.78) 17.6   (0.87)
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
NOTE: Percentages are for students who earned any Carnegie credits. For a high school graduate to be included in the analyses, their transcript had to meet five requirements: (1) the graduate received either a standard or honors diploma, (2) the transcript had three or more years of delineated courses, (3) at least one course on the transcript was taken during the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and High School Transcript Study (HSTS) assessment year, (4) the transcript contained 16 or more Carnegie credits, and (5) the transcript contained at least 1 Carnegie credit in English courses. The Carnegie unit is a standard of measurement that represents one credit for the completion of a 1-year course. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2019 High School Transcript Study (HSTS). (This table was prepared May 2022.)

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