NOTE: The averaged freshman graduation rate provides an estimate of the percentage of public high school students who graduate on time. The rate is the number of graduates divided by the estimated count of freshmen 4 years earlier. The estimated averaged freshman enrollment count is the sum of the number of 8th-graders 5 years earlier, the number of 9th-graders 4 years earlier (because this is when current year seniors were freshmen), and the number of 10th-graders 3 years earlier, divided by 3. (Enrollment counts used for these calculations include a proportional distribution of students not enrolled in a specific grade.) The averaging is intended to account for higher grade retentions in the 9th grade. Graduates include only those who earned regular diplomas or diplomas for advanced academic achievement (e.g., honors diplomas) as defined by the state or district. This measure is sensitive to in and out migration at the school district level. Data in this table reflect totals reported by schools and school districts and may differ slightly from data calculated from state reported summaries. For a comparison of measures of educational attainment, see appendix B. Rural areas are located outside any urbanized area or urban cluster. Urbanized areas are densely settled areas containing at least 50,000 people. Urban clusters are densely settled areas with a population of 2,500 to 49,999. Fringe rural areas are 5 miles or less from an urbanized area or 2.5 miles or less from an urban cluster. Distant rural areas are more than 5 miles but less than or equal to 25 miles from an urbanized area, or more than 2.5 miles but less than or equal to 10 miles from an urban cluster. Remote rural areas are more than 25 miles from an urbanized area and more than 10 miles from an urban cluster. For more details on Census-defined areas, click here.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2003–04.