9/14/94 High School Dropout Rates Decline Over Two Decades

US Education Department Press Releases

Over the past 20 years, dropout rates have declined, as overall high school completion rates have increased, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Education.

"I am encouraged that over the past two decades we've seen good progress in students completing high school," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, "the trend is in the right direction. Especially noteworthy is the solid gain in the high school graduation rate of African American students." The proportion of blacks completing high school by age 21-22 increased from 74 percent in 1972 to almost 84 percent in 1993, while the proportion of whites also rose from 85 percent in 1972 to 90 percent in 1993. According to the findings, economic status, not race or ethnicity, is the surest predictor of academic success and failure.

"Many dropouts say they left school because they were failing or just didn't like it," Riley said as he released Dropout Rates in the United States: 1993. "Some will come back and finish, but too many find themselves unemployed or stuck in a job with no future. If we are to meet the national goal of a 90 percent high school graduation rate, we must all do more to keep our children connected to school, to teach them the value of learning, and to keep them engaged in school by making schools places where challenging courses interest and expand young minds."

According to the report, 86 percent of all Americans now complete high school by age 21-22, up from the 1972 rate of 82 percent.

Students who are black or Hispanic, living in families with low income, or living in the South or West were the least likely to complete high school, according to the report.

The number of high school sophomores who dropped out of school by the 12th grade decreased from 11.4 percent to 6.2 percent (down 46 percent) in the decade between 1982 and 1992.

Prepared by the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics, the sixth annual report to Congress contains high school completion data -- the proportion of students who have completed high school or an equivalency degree -- as well as data on the percentage of young adults who have not completed high school and are not in school (status dropout rate) and the percentage who drop out in a single year (event rate).

In 1993, 11 percent (3.4 million) of persons aged 16 to 24 had dropped out (status rate), down from the 14-15 percent rates of the 1970s, but unchanged from 1992.

Among the report's other highlights: Dropout rates decrease as income levels increase. Both the annual (event) dropout rate and the status dropout rate were highest among students in low-income families and lowest among students in high-income families. Although a higher overall percentage of black than white young adults are high school dropouts, when compared by income level, the dropout rate is virtually the same for blacks and whites. Hispanics, however, have a much higher dropout rate than their peers at both low- and middle-income levels. While low-income students are more likely to drop out than their peers, two-thirds of all dropouts under age 20 were from white middle-income families living in suburban or non-metropolitan areas. During 1993, 4.5 percent (381,000) of 15- to 24-year- olds in grades 10 through 12 dropped out of school, about even with the 1992 rate, but down from the rate of 6.5 percent seen in the late 1970s. Between 1972 and 1993, the high school completion rate for Hispanics age 21-22 fluctuated, from 55 percent in 1972 to 66.4 percent in 1985 to 63 percent in 1993. During the same time period both blacks and whites made gains. Male and female dropout rates are similar. Students who were retained at least once between kindergarten and grade six had a status dropout rate twice that of those who were never retained, and the dropout rate for young adults retained in grades seven through nine was four times the rate for those who did not repeat any grades. The status dropout rate for 16- to 24-year-old Spanish- speaking Hispanics (three-quarters report speaking Spanish at home) was 32 percent -- nearly three times the overall rate of 11 percent. More than half of Hispanic students, versus a third of whites and a quarter of blacks, drop out by grade 10. The most widespread student-reported reasons for dropping out between the 10th and 12th grade included did not like, or failing, school; job-related reasons; and pregnancy. The report is available by writing the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954, or call the GPO Order Desk at (202) 512-1800. The cost is $12.00 and the stock number is 065-000- 00686-7.