While progress was made during the 1970s and 1980s in reducing high school dropout rates and increasing high school completion rates, these rates have remained comparatively stable during the 1990s, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

"Despite the growing investment in education at all levels, student achievement has lagged," said U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. " The study released today is another indicator that we have not made enough progress in recent years to improve access to quality education and that comprehensive change is needed."

To help provide a clear picture of high school dropouts, Dropout Rates in the United States: 2000 presents statistics for three different measures: event dropout rates, status dropout rates, and high school completion rates. The report also provides state and regional data and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts and high school completers in 2000.

Event dropout rates for 2000 describe the proportion of youth ages 15-24 who dropped out of grades 10-12 in the 12 months preceding October 2000.

• Five out of every 100 15- through 24-year-olds who had been enrolled in high school in October 1999 left school before October 2000 without successfully completing high school. The percentage that left school each year decreased from 1972 through 1987. Despite year-to-year fluctuations, the percentage of students dropping out of school each year has stayed relatively unchanged since 1987.
• In 2000 the event dropout rate for Hispanics was 7.4 percent, 6.1 percent for blacks, 4.1 percent for whites, and 3.5 percent for Asians/Pacific Islanders.
• In 2000, the dropout rate for students from the lowest 20 percent of all family incomes was six times that of their peers from families in the highest 20 percent.
• In 2000, about three-fourths (76 percent) of the current-year dropouts were ages 15 through 18; moreover, about two-fifths (42 percent) of the dropouts were ages 15 through 17.

According to the status rate, over the last decade, between 347,000 and 544,000 10th- through 12th-grade students left school each year without successfully completing a high school program. The status dropout rates represent the proportion of young people ages 16 through 24 who are out of school and who have not earned a high school credential. Status rates are higher than event rates because they include all dropouts in this age range, regardless of when they last attended school.

• In October 2000, some 3.8 million 16- through 24-year-olds were not enrolled in a high school program and had not completed high school. These youths accounted for 11 percent of the 34.6 million 16- through 24-year-olds in the U.S. in 2000. As noted with event rates, status rates declined from the early 1970s into the late 1980s, but since then have remained stable.
• In 2000, the status dropout rate for Asian/Pacific Islander youth was lower than for youth from all other racial/ethnic groups. The status rate for Asian/Pacific Islanders was 4 percent compared with 28 percent for Hispanics, 13 percent for blacks, and 7 percent for whites.
• In 2000, 44 percent of Hispanic youth born outside of the U.S. were high school dropouts. Hispanics born within the U.S. were much less likely to be dropouts than foreign-born Hispanics, but had higher rates than youth from other racial/ethnic groups born within the United States.

"Since 1990, the gap between white students and black students dropping out of school has remained fairly constant, rather than continuing the narrowing reflected in data from the 1970s and 1980s," said Commissioner of Education Statistics Gary Phillips. " During this period, Hispanic youth in the United States have continued to have a relatively high status dropout rate when compared to Asian/Pacific Islanders, whites or blacks."

High school completion rates represent the proportion of 18- through 24-year-olds, not currently enrolled in high school or below, who have completed a high school diploma or an equivalent credential, including a General Educational Development (GED) credential. The completion rate is distinguished from a high school graduation rate, which includes only high school diplomas.

• In 2000, 87 percent of all 18- through 24-year-olds not enrolled in high school had completed high school. Completion rates rose slightly from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, but have remained fairly constant during the 1990s.
• High school completion rates increased for white and black young adults between the early 1970s and late 1980s, but have remained relatively constant in the 1990s. By 2000, 92 percent of white and 84 percent of black 18- through 24-year-olds had completed high school.

Demographic data are collected in the Current Population Survey and permit event dropout rates to be calculated across various individual characteristics, including race/ethnicity, sex, region or residence, and income level. The Common Core of Data survey is used as the data source for state level dropout rates.

"We hope that with the benefit of the president's No Child Left Behind education reform proposals, which should be presented in a final education bill shortly, all indicators of student achievement will begin to show increases in the future, and among all ethnic groups," Paige said.

Dropout Rates in the United States: 2000 is available on-line through the NCES web site at http://nces.ed.gov or directly at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2002114. The report can also be ordered from ED PUBS at http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html or by calling toll free 1-887-4ED-Pubs.

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