________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                            |         1997         |         1998          |         1999
                            |______________________|_______________________|____________________________________
      Characteristics       |       | Com- | Com-  |       | Com-  | Com-  |           | Com-      | Com-
                            |Dropout|pleted|pleted |Dropout|pleted |pleted |Dropout    |pleted     |pleted
                            |       |by GED|  by   |       |by GED |  by   |           |by GED     |  by
                            |       |      |diploma|       |       |diploma|           |           |diploma
____________________________|_______|______|_______|_______|_______|_______|___________|___________|____________
             1              |   2   |  3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |  8        |  9        |  10
____________________________|_______|______|_______|_______|_______|_______|___________|___________|____________
Number, in thousands .......| 5,496 |3,057 |33,787 | 5,636 | 3,321 |33,706 |5,576 (122)|3,314  (92)|33,819 (379)
  Percent distribution .....|  13.0 |  7.2 |  79.8 |  13.2 |   7.8 |  79.0 | 13.1 (0.3)|  7.8 (0.2)|  79.2 (0.3)
                            |_______|______|_______|_______|_______|_______|___________|___________|____________
Sex ........................| 100.0 |100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0  --- | 100.0  ---
  Male .....................|  54.4 | 49.3 |  48.6 |  57.0 |  47.3 |  48.4 | 53.5 (1.0)| 49.6 (1.3)|  48.0 (0.4)
  Female ...................|  45.6 | 50.7 |  51.4 |  43.0 |  52.7 |  51.6 | 46.5 (1.0)| 50.4 (1.3)|  52.0 (0.4)
                            |       |      |       |       |       |       |           |           |
Age ........................| 100.0 |100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0  --- | 100.0  ---
  18 and 19 ................|  18.9 |  9.5 |  14.6 |  19.6 |  13.4 |  15.2 | 18.8 (0.8)| 13.2 (0.9)|  15.3 (0.3)
  20 and 21 ................|  16.2 | 15.4 |  16.5 |  18.5 |  16.2 |  16.2 | 18.0 (0.8)| 14.0 (0.9)|  16.5 (0.3)
  22 to 24 .................|  23.8 | 22.7 |  24.8 |  24.8 |  25.6 |  24.3 | 24.5 (0.9)| 25.6 (1.2)|  25.4 (0.4)
  25 to 29 .................|  41.1 | 52.4 |  44.1 |  37.1 |  44.8 |  44.4 | 38.8 (1.0)| 47.2 (1.3)|  42.7 (0.4)
                            |       |      |       |       |       |       |           |           |
Race/ethnicity .............| 100.0 |100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0  --- | 100.0  ---
  White, non-Hispanic ......|  41.2 | 65.8 |  71.3 |  40.0 |  67.5 |  70.6 | 39.1 (1.0)| 67.7 (1.3)|  70.2 (0.4)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......|  15.9 | 16.6 |  13.0 |  15.7 |  13.9 |  13.1 | 14.8 (0.8)| 14.8 (1.0)|  13.4 (0.3)
  Hispanic .................|  39.0 | 13.8 |  10.4 |  41.6 |  13.2 |  10.7 | 42.5 (1.2)| 12.7 (1.0)|  10.5 (0.3)
  Other ....................|   3.9 |  3.8 |   5.3 |   2.7 |   5.5 |   5.6 |  3.5 (0.4)|  4.8 (0.7)|   5.9 (0.2)
                            |       |      |       |       |       |       |           |           |
Educational attainment .....| 100.0 |100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0  --- | 100.0  ---
  Less than high school ....| 100.0 |  0.0 |   0.0 | 100.0 |   0.0 |   0.0 |100.0  --- |  0.0  --- |   0.0  ---
  Completed high school ....|   0.0 | 68.0 |  36.6 |   0.0 |  47.1 |  38.3 |  0.0  --- | 45.8 (1.3)|  37.2 (0.4)
  Some college .............|   0.0 | 17.8 |  35.6 |   0.0 |  36.1 |  33.8 |  0.0  --- | 36.3 (1.3)|  33.8 (0.4)
  Associate degree .........|   0.0 |  5.3 |   7.2 |   0.0 |   6.9 |   7.2 |  0.0  --- |  6.7 (0.7)|   7.5 (0.2)
  Bachelor's degree ....... |   0.0 |  7.7 |  17.5 |   0.0 |   8.0 |  17.1 |  0.0  --- |  9.0 (0.8)|  18.1 (0.3)
  Masters or higher degree .|   0.0 |  1.3 |   3.2 |   0.0 |   1.9 |   3.5 |  0.0  --- |  2.1 (0.4)|   3.4 (0.2)
                            |       |      |       |       |       |       |           |           |
Family income quartile .....| 100.0 |100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0  --- | 100.0  ---
  Lowest quartile ..........|  47.7 | 27.4 |  19.3 |  46.3 |  27.8 |  18.5 | 42.4 (1.0)| 24.6 (1.2)|  18.7 (0.3)
  Low-middle quartile ......|  30.2 | 29.5 |  25.1 |  30.6 |  29.7 |  24.6 | 33.0 (1.0)| 29.0 (1.2)|  24.4 (0.4)
  High-middle quartile .....|  14.5 | 24.4 |  27.4 |  16.6 |  23.1 |  28.4 | 17.0 (0.8)| 28.0 (1.2)|  27.9 (0.4)
  Highest quartile .........|   7.6 | 18.7 |  28.3 |   6.5 |  19.3 |  28.5 |  7.7 (0.5)| 18.3 (1.0)|  29.0 (0.4)
                            |       |      |       |       |       |       |           |           |
Employment status ..........| 100.0 |100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |100.0  --- |100.0  --- | 100.0  ---
  Employed .................|  58.2 | 76.7 |  74.8 |  61.6 |  71.8 |  76.0 | 60.6 (1.0)| 72.2 (1.2)|  75.6 (0.4)
  Unemployed ...............|  11.7 |  9.1 |   4.4 |   8.4 |   7.6 |   4.3 |  9.1 (0.6)|  7.2 (0.7)|   4.2 (0.2)
  Not in labor force .......|  30.1 | 14.1 |  20.9 |  30.0 |  20.6 |  19.7 | 30.3 (0.9)| 20.6 (1.1)|  20.2 (0.3)
____________________________|_______|______|_______|_______|_______|_______|___________|___________|____________

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, unpublished data. (This table was prepared December 2000.)