Anne Sorey

Professor

Math

10 February 2017

High School Dropout Rates

Each year 1.3 million students drop out of high school. School completion rates have

continually increased in the past 100 years, but unfortunately students that drop out continue to

be an issue around in the United States. Based on data from the Current Population Survey, the

status dropout rate decreased from 12.1 percent in 1990 to 6.5 percent in 2014. Between 1990

and 2014, the male status dropout rate declined from 12.3 to 7.1 percent, and for females the rate

declined from 11.8 to 9.9 for the same years. Each year the dropout rate was lower for white

teens than black teens, and both of those rates are lower than the Hispanic teenagers. Hispanic

youth went from 32.4 percent to 10.6 percent during the same time period. In most cases,

Hispanic youth are more likely to dropout than any other race.

A recent study for State High School Graduation Rates for All Public School Students,

Low Income Students, and Children with Disabilities show that Wyoming has the most dropouts

for all three sections. For all public schools, Wyoming has a graduation rate of 79.3% to 80%.

Leading Wyoming were the states Wisconsin and West Virginia, with 88.4% to 87%, and West

Virginia being 86.5 to 78%. Studies show that a high school graduate will most likely be more

successful with earning money and being employed, and less likely to rely on public money for

health care and welfare. They are also less likely to be involved with crime and dangerous

activities such as drugs. Because of the increased income, a graduate will contribute more in tax

revenues during the span of their life.

 Fortunately, in 2008 when Barack Obama first took office, over 1 million students didnt

finish high school. And just a couple of years ago in 2012, under 750,000 didnt graduate, which

was a 27% percent decrease in 4 years.

In an Educational Longitudinal Study done, they stated ranked reasons for dropouts in

2006. Overall, there were 8 factors of pulling out, and the percentage was 36.9%. 10 factors of

pushed out with a percentage of 48.7, and 3 factors for falling out, with a percentage of 14.3.

These factors went from missing too many school days, to getting pregnant and taking leave.

Ive created a histogram with data from Nces.ed.gov, to show you the dropout rates by

race, ethnicity, and sex from October 2012. As you can see, surprisingly, the highest dropout

rates by race is American Indian with 15.8% in males and 13.5% in females. More Hispanic

males, however, dropped out of high school than American Indian women, with 13.9%. The

least amount of people who dropped out are the Asian race, with only 2.5% for males and 4.0 for

females. This is the only race where females are more likely to drop out than men.
High School Graduation Rates by State. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2017, from
http://www.governing.com/gov-data/high-school-graduation-rates-by-state.html

Fast Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2017, from

https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=16

Why Students Drop Out. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2017, from
http://dropoutprevention.org/resources/statistics/quick-facts/why-students-drop-
out/

H. (2012, January 25). The True Cost of High School Dropouts. Retrieved February
20, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/opinion/the-true-cost-of-high-
school-dropouts.html

https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015015.pdf