High School Dropout and Completion Rates

For the first time in 40 years, the status completion rate for Black 18- to 24-year-olds was not measurably different from White 18- to 24-year-olds. From 1977 to 2016 the status completion rate for White 18- to 24-year-olds was consistently higher than the rate for Black 18- to 24-year-olds. The National Center for Education Statistics report, Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 2019, presents statistics on high school dropout and completion rates at the state and national levels. Other key findings from this year’s report are: Between October 2016 and October 2017, approximately 523,000 15- to 24-year-olds left school without obtaining a high school credential. These event dropouts accounted for 4.7 percent of the 11.1 million youth enrolled in grades 10 through 12 in 2017. In October 2017, approximately 93.3 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds who were not enrolled in high school held a high school diploma or an alternative credential. Compared to 1977, this represents a 9.7 percentage point increase. In 2017, the status dropout rate* for all 16- to 24-year-olds was 5.4 percent. Status dropout rates have trended downward, declining from 14.1 percent in 1977. In 2016–17, the adjusted cohort graduation rates** for American Indian/Alaska Native (72 percent), Black (78 percent), and Hispanic (80 percent) public high school students were below the U.S. average of 85 percent. *The status dropout rate is the percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school credential. ** The adjusted cohort graduation rate provides information about the percentage of U.S. public high school students who graduate on time (that is, 4 years after starting 9th grade for the first time) with a regular diploma.