Fast Facts

Dropout rates

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 an equivalency credential such as a General Educational Development [GED] certificate).

The status dropout rate declined from 12 percent in 1990 to 7 percent in 2010. Between 1990 and 2010, status dropout rates also declined for Whites (from 9 percent to 5 percent), Blacks (from 13 percent to 8 percent), and Hispanics (from 32 percent to 15 percent). Over this period, the status dropout rate was generally lowest for Asians/Pacific Islanders, followed by Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. In 2010, the status dropout rates for Asians/Pacific Islanders and Whites (4 percent and 5 percent, respectively) were not measurably different from each other, but both were lower than the status dropout rates for Blacks (8 percent), and Hispanics (15 percent). The gap between Whites and Hispanics narrowed from 23 percentage points in 1990 to 10 percentage points in 2010; the gaps between Whites and Blacks in these two years were not measurably different.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). The Condition of Education 2012 (NCES 2012-045), Indicator 33.

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 30 percent or greater.
‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases).
¹ Total includes other race/ethnicity categories not separately shown.

NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). The Condition of Education 2012 (NCES 2012-045), Table A-33-1.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2012, Digest of Education Statistics 2011, Table 114. Public high school graduates and dropouts, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: 2008-09
  
• 2012, Digest of Education Statistics 2011, Table 116. Percentage of high school dropouts among persons 16 through 24 years old (status dropout rate), by sex and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1960 through 2010
  
• 2012, Digest of Education Statistics 2011, Table 117. 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 2010
  
• 2012, The Condition of Education 2012: Public High School Graduation Rates
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2011, America's Youth: Transitions to Adulthood
  
• 2011, Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2008–09
  
• 2010, The Common Core of Data (CCD) Dropouts, Completers and Graduation Rate Reports: These reports present the number and percentage of students dropping out and completing public school.