Dropout Study

School Administrator, Feb, 1995

Student dropout rates vary widely depending on how you define your terms.

The U.S. Department of Education's sixth annual report on the dropout rate makes that point clear. The report describes three types of dropout rates for 1993:

* Event rate: 4.5 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds dropped out;

* Status rate: approximately 3.4 million persons ages 16 to 24 (11 percent of the age group) had not completed school and were not enrolled in school;

* Cohort rate: 6.8 percent of the 8thgrade cohort of 1988 dropped out between 1988 and 1990 and 7.6 percent dropped out between 1990 and 1992.

The report also indicated the high school completion rate in 1993 was 86 percent.