Question:
What are the dropout rates of high school students?

Response:

The status dropout rate represents the percentage of persons in an age group who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school diploma or equivalent credential, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate. Status dropout rates are reported for 16- through 24-year-olds. The status dropout rate for this age group declined from 15 percent in 1972 to 9 percent in 2006. A decline was also seen between 2000 and 2006, the more recent years of this time span (11 to 9 percent).

Status dropout rates and changes in these rates over time differ by race/ethnicity. In general, the status dropout rates for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics each declined between 1972 and 2006. However, for each year between 1972 and 2006, the status dropout rate was lowest for Whites and highest for Hispanics. Although the gaps between the rates of Blacks and Whites and between the rates of Hispanics and Whites have decreased, the patterns have not been consistent. The Black-White gap narrowed during the 1980s, with no measurable change during the 1970s or between 1990 and 2006. In contrast, the Hispanic-White gap narrowed between 1990 and 2006, with no measurable change in the gap during the 1970s and 1980s.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). The Condition of Education 2008 (NCES 2008-031), Indicator 23.

¹Includes other race/ethnicity categories not separately shown.
²Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Beginning in 2003, respondents were able to identify as being more than one race. From 2003 onwards, the Black and White categories include individuals who considered themselves to be of only one race.

NOTE: The status dropout rate is the percentage of 16- through 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in high school and who lack a high school credential. A high school credential includes a high school diploma or equivalent credential such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate. 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.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). The Condition of Education 2008 (NCES 2008-031), Table 23-1.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 103. Public high school graduates and dropouts, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: Selected years, 2003-04 and 2004-05
  
• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 105. Percentage of high school dropouts among persons 16 through 24 years old (status dropout rate), by sex and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1960 through 2006
  
• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 106. Percentage of high school dropouts among persons 16 through 24 years old (status dropout rate), by income level, and percentage distribution of status dropouts, by labor force status and educational attainment: 1970 through 2006
  
• 2006, The Condition of Education 2006: High School Sophomores Who Left Without Graduating Within 2 Years
  
• 2004, The Condition of Education 2004: Event Dropout Rates by Family Income, 1972�01
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2007, Data File: Common Core of Data Local Education Agency Public School Dropouts: School Year 2002-03
  
• 2007, Data File: Common Core of Data Local Education Agency Public School Dropouts: School Year 2003-04
  
• 2007, Dropout Rates in the United States: 2005
  
• 2007, NCES Common Core of Data State-Level Public Use Data File on Public School Dropouts, School Year 2002-03
  
• 2007, NCES Common Core of Data State-Level Public-Use Data File on Public School Dropouts: School Year 2004�
  
• 2007, Numbers and Rates of Public High School Dropouts: School Year 2004-05
  
• 2007, Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities
  
• 2006, Dropout Rates in the United States: 2002 and 2003
  
• 2006, Dropout Rates in the United States: 2004
  
• 2004, Dropout Rates in the United States: 2001
  
• 2003, CCD Data File: Local Education Agency Dropout and Completion Data: School Year 2000-01
  
• 2003, Public High School Dropouts and Completers from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2000-01
  
• 2000, A Recommended Approach to Providing High School Dropout and Completion Rates at the State Level