What are the dropout rates of high school students? http://nces.ed.gov/FastFacts/display.asp?id=16

Fast Facts

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 14 percent in 1980 to 8 percent in 2009. A significant part of this decline occurred between 2000 and 2009 (from 11 percent to 8 percent). Status dropout rates and changes in these rates over time differed by race/ethnicity. In general, the status dropout rates for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics each declined between 1980 and 2009. However, in each year during that period, the status dropout rate was lower for Whites and Blacks than for Hispanics. In addition, the rate for Asians/Pacific Islanders was lower than that for Hispanics and Blacks every year between 1989 and 2009. Although the gaps between the rates of Blacks and Whites, Hispanics and Whites, and Hispanics and Blacks have decreased, the decreases occurred in different time periods. The Black-White gap narrowed during the 1980s, with no measurable change between 1990 and 2009. In contrast, the Hispanic-Black gap narrowed between 1990 and 2009, with no measurable change in the gap during the 1980s. THe Hispanic-White gap narrowed between 2000 and 2009, with no measurable change in the gap between 1980 and 1999.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). The Condition of Education 2011 (NCES 2011-033), Indicator 20.

Status dropout rates of 16- through 24-year-olds in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population, by race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1980-2009
Year	Total1	Race/ethnicity
		White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native
1980	14.1	11.4	19.1	35.2	—	—
1985	12.6	10.4	15.2	27.6	—	—
1990	12.1	9.0	13.2	32.4	4.9!	16.4!
1995	12.0	8.6	12.1	30.0	3.9	13.4!
1998	11.8	7.7	13.8	29.5	4.1	11.8
1999	11.2	7.3	12.6	28.6	4.3	‡
2000	10.9	6.9	13.1	27.8	3.8	14.0
2001	10.7	7.3	10.9	27.0	3.6	13.1
2002	10.5	6.5	11.3	25.7	3.9	16.8
2003	9.9	6.3	10.9	23.5	3.9	15.0
2004	10.3	6.8	11.8	23.8	3.6	17.0
2005	9.4	6.0	10.4	22.4	2.9	14.0
2006	9.3	5.8	10.7	22.1	3.6	14.7
2007	8.7	5.3	8.4	21.4	6.1	19.3
2008	8.0	4.8	9.9	18.3	4.4	14.6
2009	8.1	5.2	9.3	17.6	3.4	13.2

— Not available.
! Interpret data with caution.The standard error of the estimate is equal to 30 percent or more of the estimate's value.
‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases).
¹ Total includes other race/ethnicity categories not separately shown.

NOTE: The status dropout rate is the percentage of 16- through 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in high 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 includes all dropouts regardless of when they last attended school. Estimates from 1987 and onward reflect new editing procedures for cases with missing data on school enrollment items. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. One should use caution when making comparisons between data from 1995 and earlier and data from 1996 and later because of differing response options for race/ethnicity over time.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). The Condition of Education 2011 (NCES 2011-033), Table A-20-1.