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26 Oct 2016
Report

Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States

Patrick Stark and Jiashan Cui

Dropping out of high school is related to a number of negative outcomes, including lower lifetime earnings, higher likelihood of unemployment, and higher reliance on welfare.

This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2013, provides data on long-term trends in dropout and completion rates, and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts and completers. Five rates are presented to provide a broad perspective on high school dropouts and completers in the United States: the event dropout rate, the status dropout rate, the status completion rate, the adjusted cohort graduation rate, and the averaged freshman graduation rate. Each rate contributes unique information. Information about individuals who pass the GED exam is provided to place the different rates into context relative to this widely used alternative high school credential.

Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States

Related Work

25 Oct 2016
News Release

U.S. High School Dropout Rate Continues to Decline, Although Demographic Differences Persist

The share of 16-to-24-year-old civilian, noninstitutionalized Americans who were not enrolled in high school and had not earned a high school diploma or alternative credential in 2013 was 6.8 percent, down from 14.1 percent in 1973, according to a new report by AIR for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
25 Jun 2015
Report

Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972-2012

Dropping out of high school is related to a number of negative outcomes, including lower median income and greater reliance on welfare. This report from the National Center for Education Statistics describes dropout trends in the United States over 40 years, beginning in 1972. Results show dropout rates are trending downward, but are still higher for Black and Hispanic students than for White and Asian/Pacific Islander students.
Topic: 
Education, High School Improvement
8 Dec 2010
Report

Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2008

This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988.

Topic: 
Education, High School Improvement
14 Jan 2020
Report

Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States

These reports build upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988.

Topic: 
Education

Further Reading

  • Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States
  • Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2008
  • Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972-2012
  • U.S. High School Dropout Rate Continues to Decline, Although Demographic Differences Persist
  • Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States
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