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

NCES 2011-012 December 2010

Table 11. Status completion rates of 18- through 24-year-olds not currently enrolled in high school or below, 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	82.8		83.0	82.7		86.0	72.1	56.2
1973	83.7		84.0	83.4		87.0	71.6	58.7
1974	83.6		83.4	83.8		86.7	73.0	60.1
1975	83.8		84.1	83.6		87.2	70.2	62.2
1976	83.5		83.0	84.0		86.4	73.5	60.3
1977	83.6		82.8	84.4		86.7	73.9	58.6
1978	83.6		82.8	84.2		86.9	73.4	58.8
1979	83.1		82.1	84.0		86.6	72.6	58.5
1980	83.9		82.3	85.3		87.5	75.2	57.1
1981	83.8		82.0	85.4		87.1	76.7	59.1
1982	83.8		82.7	84.9		87.0	76.4	60.9
1983	83.9		82.1	85.6		87.4	76.8	59.4
1984	84.7		83.3	85.9		87.5	80.3	63.7
1985	85.4		84.0	86.7		88.2	81.0	66.6
1986	85.5		84.2	86.7		88.8	81.8	63.5
1987	84.7		84.0	85.8		87.7	81.9	65.1
1988	84.5		83.2	85.8		88.7	80.9	58.2
1989	84.7		83.2	86.2		89.0	81.9	59.4
1990	85.6		85.1	86.0		89.6	83.2	59.1
1991	84.9		83.8	85.9		89.4	82.5	56.5
1992	86.4		85.3	87.4		90.7	82.0	62.1
1993	86.2		85.4	86.9		90.1	81.9	64.4
1994	85.8		84.5	87.0		90.7	83.3	61.8
1995	85.3		84.3	85.7		89.8	84.5	62.8
1996	86.2		85.7	86.8		91.5	83.0	61.9
1997	85.9		84.6	87.2		90.5	82.0	66.7
1998	84.8		82.6	87.0		90.2	81.4	62.8
1999	85.9		84.8	87.1		91.2	83.5	63.4
2000	86.5		84.9	88.1		91.8	83.7	64.1
2001	86.5		84.6	88.3		91.0	85.6	65.7
2002	86.6		84.8	88.4		91.8	84.7	67.3
2003	87.1		85.1	89.2		91.9	85.0	69.2
2004	86.8		84.9	88.8		91.7	83.4	69.8
2005	87.6		85.4	89.8		92.3	85.9	70.2
2006	87.8		86.5	89.1		92.6	84.8	70.8
2007	89.0		87.4	90.6		93.5	88.8	72.7
2008	89.9		89.3	90.5		94.2	86.9	75.5
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 themselves 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: Status completion rates measure the percentage of 18- through 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in high school and who also hold a high school diploma or equivalent credential, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate. Those still enrolled in high school are excluded from the analysis. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October 1972–2008.