Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2008

NCES 2011-012 December 2010

Table 3. Event dropout rates of 15- through 24-year-olds who dropped out of grades 10–12, by sex and race/ethnicity: October 1972 through October 2008

			Sex (percent)			Race/ethnicity (percent)1
Year2	Total (percent)		Male	Female		White, non- Hispanic	Black, non- Hispanic	Hispanic
1972	6.1		5.9	6.3		5.3	9.5	11.2
1973	6.3		6.8	5.7		5.5	9.9	10.0
1974	6.7		7.4	6.0		5.8	11.6	9.9
1975	5.8		5.4	6.1		5.0	8.7	10.9
1976	5.9		6.6	5.2		5.6	7.4	7.3
1977	6.5		6.9	6.1		6.1	8.6	7.8
1978	6.7		7.5	5.9		5.8	10.2	12.3
1979	6.7		6.8	6.7		6.0	9.9	9.8
1980	6.1		6.7	5.5		5.2	8.2	11.7
1981	5.9		6.0	5.8		4.8	9.7	10.7
1982	5.5		5.8	5.1		4.7	7.8	9.2
1983	5.2		5.8	4.7		4.4	7.0	10.1
1984	5.1		5.4	4.8		4.4	5.7	11.1
1985	5.2		5.4	5.0		4.3	7.8	9.8
1986	4.7		4.7	4.7		3.7	5.4	11.9
1987	4.1		4.3	3.8		3.5	6.4	5.4	!
1988	4.8		5.1	4.4		4.2	5.9	10.4
1989	4.5		4.5	4.5		3.5	7.8	7.8	!
1990	4.0		4.0	3.9		3.3	5.0	7.9
1991	4.0		3.8	4.2		3.2	6.0	7.3
1992	4.4		3.9	4.9		3.7	5.0	8.2
1993	4.5		4.6	4.3		3.9	5.8	6.7
1994	5.3		5.2	5.4		4.2	6.6	10.0
1995	5.7		6.2	5.3		4.5	6.4	12.4
1996	5.0		5.0	5.1		4.1	6.7	9.0
1997	4.6		5.0	4.1		3.6	5.0	9.5
1998	4.8		4.6	4.9		3.9	5.2	9.4
1999	5.0		4.6	5.4		4.0	6.5	7.8
2000	4.8		5.5	4.1		4.1	6.1	7.4
2001	5.0		5.6	4.3		4.1	6.3	8.8
2002	3.6		3.7	3.4		2.6	4.9	5.8
2003	4.0		4.2	3.8		3.2	4.8	7.1
2004	4.7		5.1	4.3		3.7	5.7	8.9
2005	3.8		4.2	3.4		2.8	7.3	5.0
2006	3.8		4.1	3.4		2.9	3.8	7.0
2007	3.5		3.7	3.3		2.2	4.5	6.0
2008	3.5		3.1	4.0		2.3	6.4	5.3
! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable because the standard error represents more than 33 percent of the estimate. 1 Beginning in 2003, respondents were able to identify themselves as being “more than one race.” The 2003 through 2008 White, non-Hispanic and Black, non-Hispanic categories consist of individuals who considered themselves to be one race and who did not identify as Hispanic. The Hispanic category includes Hispanics of all races and racial combinations. Due to small sample sizes for some or all of the years shown in the table, American Indians/Alaska Natives and Asians/Pacific Islanders are included in the totals but not shown separately. The “more than one race” category is also included in the total in 2003 through 2008 but not shown separately due to small sample size. 2 Estimates beginning in 1987 reflect new editing procedures for cases with missing data on school enrollment items. Estimates beginning in 1992 reflect new wording of the educational attainment item. Estimates beginning in 1994 reflect changes due to newly instituted computer-assisted interviewing. For details about changes in the Current Population Survey (CPS) over time, please see Kaufman, P., Alt, M.N., and Chapman, C. (2004). Dropout Rates in the United States: 2001 (NCES 2005-046). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. NOTE: The event dropout rate indicates the percentage of youth ages 15 through 24 who dropped out of grades 10–12 between one October and the next (e.g., October 2007 to October 2008). Dropping out is defined as leaving school without a high school diploma or equivalent credential, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October 1972–2008.