Many factors are associated with school success, persistence, and progress toward a high school diploma or a college or advanced degree. These include students' motivation and effort, learning experiences, and expectations for further education, as well as various family characteristics, such as parents' educational attainment and family income. Monitoring these factors and tracking educational attainment provide key indicators for describing the progress of students and schooling in the United States.

• Among public high school students in the class of 2004-05, about three-fourths graduated on time, based on an estimate of the incoming freshman class and the number of diplomas awarded 4 years later. Nebraska had the highest averaged freshman graduation rate in 2004-05, at 87.8 percent. Sixteen other states had graduation rates above 80 percent, and 10 other states and the District of Columbia had rates below 70 percent. The overall averaged freshman graduation rate increased from 71.7 percent in 2000-01 to 74.7 percent in 2004-05 (indicator 21).
  


• Between 1996-97 and 2005-06, the percentage of students with a disability exiting school with a regular high school diploma increased from 43 to 57 percent. About 94 percent of these students were ages 17-19. In addition, the percentage of students with disabilities exiting with a certificate of attendance increased from 9 to 15 percent, while the percentage who dropped out without a credential decreased from 46 to 26 percent. Among students with disabilities, the two groups with the highest percentages exiting with a regular high school diploma were those with visual impairments and those with hearing impairments (indicator 22).
  


• 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 for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics ages 16-24 have each generally declined between 1972 and 2006. However, during this period, status dropout rates for Whites remained lower than rates for Hispanics and Blacks (indicator 23).
  


• The rate at which high school completers enrolled in college in the fall immediately after high school increased from 49 percent in 1972 to 67 percent in 1997. Since then, the rate has fluctuated between 62 and 69 percent. Though immediate college enrollment rates increased overall between 1972 and 2006 for both Whites and Blacks, there has been no overall change in the White-Black gap. For Hispanics, the rate has fluctuated over time but increased overall between 1972 and 2006. Nonetheless, the White-Hispanic gap has widened over this period. Since 1972, the immediate college enrollment rate for high school completers has increased faster for females than for males (indicator 24).
  


• Some 87 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds had received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate by 2007. This rate has remained between 85 and 88 percent over the last 30 years. The percentage of students in this age group who had completed at least some college education increased from 34 to 58 percent between 1971 and 2007, though increases were not consistent throughout this period. In most years during this period, the percentage completing a bachelor's degree or higher was roughly half that for completing at least some college. While the percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds with a bachelor's degree or higher increased for all three racial/ethnic groups, the gaps between Whites and their Black and Hispanic peers widened between 1971 and 2007 (indicator 25).
  


• Between 1995-96 and 2005-06, the number of associate's degrees earned by minority students grew at a faster rate than for White students and accounted for over 60 percent of the increase in the total number of associate's degrees awarded. While the number of bachelor's degrees earned by White students rose by 19 percent, the number of bachelor's degrees earned by minority students rose by 64 percent and accounted for 44 percent of the total increase during this period (indicator 26).
  


• Women have earned a larger number and percentage of bachelor's and master's degrees overall than men have since the early 1980s, but their share in various fields has varied. For example, though women earned over 75 percent of bachelor's and master's degrees awarded in health professions, education, and psychology in 2005-06, they earned less than 30 percent of degrees awarded in computer and information sciences and in engineering at both levels. In addition, women have made gains at the doctoral level: in 2005-06, they earned 49 percent of doctoral degrees awarded (up from 40 percent in 1995-96), and during this period, the number of doctoral degrees earned by women increased by 54 percent (indicator 27).