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

Response:

The status dropout rate represents the percentage of 16- through 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school credential (either a diploma or equivalency credential, such as a General Educational Development [GED] certificate).

The status dropout rate declined from 14 percent in 1980 to 9 percent in 2007. A decline was also seen between 2000 and 2007, the more recent years of this time span (from 11 percent 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 declined between 1980 and 2007. However, for each year during that period, the status dropout rate was lower for Whites and Blacks than for Hispanics. The rate for Asians/Pacific Islanders was also lower than those for Hispanics and Blacks between 1989 and 2007. Although the gaps between the rates of Blacks and Whites and Hispanics and Whites have decreased, the decreases occurred in different time periods. The Black-White gap narrowed during the 1980s, with no measurable change between 1990 and 2007. In contrast, the Hispanic-White gap narrowed between 1990 and 2007, with no measurable change in the gap during the 1980s.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). The Condition of Education 2009 (NCES 2009-081), Indicator 20.

¹Total includes other race/ethnicity categories not separately shown.
²Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.

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.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). The Condition of Education 2009 (NCES 2009-081), Table A-20-2.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2009, Digest of Education Statistics 2008, Table 107. Public high school graduates and dropouts, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: 2005�
  
• 2009, Digest of Education Statistics 2008, Table 109. Percentage of high school dropouts among persons 16 through 24 years old (status dropout rate), by sex and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1960 through 2007
  
• 2009, Digest of Education Statistics 2008, Table 110. 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 2007
  
• 2004, The Condition of Education 2004: Event Dropout Rates by Family Income, 1972�01
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2009, Dropouts, Completers and Graduation Rate Reports
  
• 2000, A Recommended Approach to Providing High School Dropout and Completion Rates at the State Level