One Quarter of High School Students Drop-out
One in four high school students in the United States drops out or otherwise fails to graduate, a percentage which is considerably higher than many people think. That discrepancy is due in large part to contradictory but less reliable statistics issued by many governmental and non-governmental agencies.
The less reliable statistics are based upon the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) and the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data (CCD) surveys. The CPS shows recent drop-out rates at about 10 percent, down some 40 percent for this Gen Y versus the previous Gen X drop-out rates. The CCD shows that high school completion rates, which are the flip side of the drop-out rates, have stayed steady at about 75 percent for decades.
According to a recent University of Minnesota study, the differences between the two studies are due largely to how they collect their data. CPS bases its findings on individuals responding to its surveys while the CCD bases its reports on administrative records. The CPS self-reporting system is considered by the University researchers as being less reliable.
I suspect that the continuing large number of drop-outs is somewhat different with Gen Y than Gen X, Baby Boomers, or previous generations. As is starting to be reported, a much larger percentage of Gen Y men drop-out of college than do their female counterparts. Many male college students are dropping out to start their own businesses, some of which will succeed but many of which will fail. The result has been a significant increase in the percentage of Gen Y females who graduate versus their male classmates. If the dropouts for entrepreneurial reasons are being seen at the college level, why shouldn't that same attitude be trickling down to the high schools?
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