Useful Stats: Public High School Graduation Rates by State, 2002-03 School Year

Proponents for a higher skilled workforce may be concerned with troubling new statistics regarding high school graduation rates. A new report from the EPE (Editorial Projects in Education) Research Center and Education Week shows that more than 30 percent of the nations ninth-graders fail to go on to graduate from public high schools. The report, Diplomas Count: An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates, details data on 2002-03 public high school graduation rates for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the 50 largest school districts in the nation.



The graduation rates were calculated by using the Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI), which estimates the probability that a student in the ninth grade will complete high school on time with a regular diploma. The CPI rate depicts a four-step process a student must take in order to graduate: The first three steps include the completion of one grade to the next (i.e. 9-10, 10-11, 11-12) and the final step is the completion of grade 12 to graduation.



According to the data, New Jersey ranked highest in the nation with an 84.5 percent high school graduation rate. Four other states (Iowa, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin) experienced a graduation rate of more than 80 percent.



The national rate for public high graduation for the 2002-03 school year was 69.6 percent. Nineteen states experienced a graduation rate less than the national average, with South Carolina ranking last at 52.5 percent. Nevada (55.9), Georgia (56.3), New Mexico (56.7), and Florida (57.5) round off the final five.



SSTI has prepared a table showing summary stats for all 50 states at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/071006t.htm



Diplomas Count: An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates: http://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2006/06/22/index.html