Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2008

This report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) builds upon a series of NCES reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2008, provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last three and a half decades (1972–2008), and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts and completers in 2008.