U.S. Graduation Rates Then and Now
Americans recently celebrated a new high school graduating class, and the good news is that a higher percentage of people are earning at least a high school diploma than ever before. Consider that in the year 1899-1900, only 6.4% of students made it all the way through high school, and the graduation rate in the 1929-30 school year was still just 29%. In 1963-64, our educational system graduated 76.7% of the students who originally enrolled in high school.
Today? Our most recent statistics come from school year 2018-19, when the graduation rate hit 86% overall. You can see a breakdown by state in the accompanying graphic; it shows that the highest graduation rates are found in Alabama and Iowa (92%), while Kentucky, West Virginia, New Jersey, Tennessee (all 91%), Texas and Wisconsin bested the 90% rate. Arizona (78%) and New Mexico (75%) experienced the lowest graduation rates, though Louisiana, Alaska, Arkansas and Oregon (all 80%) were not far behind.
Interestingly, we are also setting records for the most people who have completed at least four years of college. Today, 38.3% of women 25 years and older are college degreed, compared with 34.6% of men. This compares favorably with the statistics in 1940, when just 5.5% of men and 3.8% of women had graduated with at least a four-year degree. By 1975, 17.6% of men and 10.6% of women were college-degreed, and it wasn’t until 2012 that both genders breached the 30% level.
by Bob Veres
Sources:
https://www.safeandcivilschools.com/research/graduation_rates.php