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

NCES 2011-012 December 2010

Table A-1. Summary table of high school dropout, completion, and graduation rates

Rate	Current statistic (year)	Age group/ Grades	Description	Purpose	Equivalency certificate status
Event dropout rate	3.5 percent (2008)	15–24	Percentage of high school students who have dropped out of grades 10–12 in the past year	Indicator of the annual rate at which U.S. high school students are leaving school with an unsuc- cessful outcome	Students who get an equivalency certificate do not count as dropouts.
Event dropout rate (public school students)	4.1 percent (2007–08)	Grades 9–12	Percentage of public high school students who have dropped out of grades 9–12 in a given year	State-level indicator of the annual rate at which public high school students are leaving school with an unsuc- cessful outcome	Students who get a state- recognized equivalency certificate do not count as dropouts.
Status dropout rate	8.0 percent (2008)	16–24	Percentage of people who are not enrolled in high school and who do not have a high school credential	Indicator of the percentage of young people who lack a basic high school education	Students who have earned an equivalency credential do not count as dropouts.
Status completion rate	89.9 percent (2008)	18–24	Percentage of young adults who have left high school and who hold a high school credential	Indicator of the percentage of young adults who have a basic high school education	People who have earned an equivalency credential count as completers.
Averaged freshman graduation rate (public school students)	74.9 percent (2007–08)	Grades 9–12	Percentage of public high school students who graduate with a regular diploma 4 years after starting 9th grade	Indicator of on-time grad- uation from public schools	High school equivalency credentials are not counted as “graduation.”
SOURCE: Stillwell, R. (2010). Public School Graduates and Dropouts From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2007–08 (NCES 2010-341), tables 1 and 7. U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October 2008.