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Numbers and Rates of Public High School Dropouts: School Year 2004–05
NCES 2008-305
December 2007


Table 1.  Number of dropouts in grades 9–12, by grade and state or jurisdiction: School year 2004–05
 
  Number of dropouts by grade1 
State or jurisdiction  Total2 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12
Reporting states3  540,382 125,115 138,712 125,882 150,673
 
Alabama4  5,925 1,500 1,645 1,497 1,283
Alaska4  3,349 804 815 827 903
Arizona4  19,980 3,783 4,544 4,860 6,793
Arkansas  5,845 925 1,427 1,691 1,802
California  60,524 11,809 11,050 12,530 25,135
 
Colorado  17,497 3,942 4,147 4,347 5,061
Connecticut  790 906 744
Delaware  1,883 807 469 348 259
District of Columbia 
Florida4  27,633 8,324 6,657 6,184 6,468
 
Georgia  24,280 7,929 6,666 5,556 4,129
Hawaii  2,547 478 648 694 727
Idaho  2,363 409 557 693 704
Illinois4  27,380 7,708 6,803 6,399 6,470
Indiana  7,580 1,150 1,716 2,273 2,441
 
Iowa  3,302 486 676 848 1,292
Kansas  3,113 487 761 910 955
Kentucky  6,522 1,363 1,847 1,705 1,607
Louisiana  14,210 4,813 3,173 2,883 3,341
Maine  1,748 243 382 513 610
 
Maryland4  10,468 3,605 2,636 2,193 2,034
Massachusetts  11,146 2,541 2,798 2,813 2,994
Michigan  20,612 6,307 5,196 4,899 4,210
Minnesota  1,237 1,959 4,588
Mississippi  3,650 979 1,040 922 709
 
Missouri  10,270 1,977 2,760 2,860 2,673
Montana  1,628 334 401 444 449
Nebraska  2,431 420 583 637 791
Nevada  6,436 1,817 1,694 1,202 1,723
New Hampshire  2,306 170 456 685 995
 
New Jersey4  2,067 1,855
New Mexico  4,126 1,271 1,197 982 676
New York4  50,004 8,422 24,514 8,834 8,234
North Carolina  20,998 6,577 5,846 4,847 3,728
North Dakota  624 95 195 163 171
 
Ohio  20,089 6,173 3,271 4,793 5,852
Oklahoma  6,256 1,549 1,718 1,642 1,347
Oregon 
Pennsylvania  17,018 2,620 4,424 4,761 5,213
Rhode Island  1,999 586 552 546 315
 
South Carolina  6,477 2,280 1,892 1,372 933
South Dakota  1,716 352 440 381 543
Tennessee4  7,311 1,449 1,602 1,999 2,261
Texas  43,475 10,041 11,151 9,846 12,437
Utah  5,518 384 747 1,152 3,235
 
Vermont4  839 119 229 252 239
Virginia  8,989 2,460 2,124 1,780 2,625
Washington  14,641 3,437 3,225 3,822 4,157
West Virginia  3,377 826 923 846 782
Wisconsin  6,847 1,168 768 1,150 3,761
Wyoming  1,304 196 320 369 419
 
Department of Defense dependents schools, Bureau of Indian Education, and other jurisdictions 
DoDDS: DoDs Overseas5 
DDESS: DoDs Domestic5 
Bureau of Indian Education 
American Samoa  107 26 25 29 27
Guam4 
Northern Marianas Islands  90 41 19 14 16
Puerto Rico4 
U.S. Virgin Islands  299 128 78 63 30
— Not available. State did not report dropout counts or reported counts that did not conform to the NCES definition. See appendix A for more information.
‡ Reporting standards were not met. Data were missing for more than 20 percent of grade total membership.
1 Ungraded students (students not in a standard grade) who drop out of school are assigned by the local education agency (LEA) to the graded dropout count
that most closely matches the grade they would have been enrolled in based on their age. See appendix A for more information.
2 Individual state totals are included only if the state reports dropouts for each of grades 9–12.
3 Reporting state totals include those within the 50 states and the District of Columbia that reported data.
4 State reported dropout counts on an alternative July through June cycle rather than the October through September cycle specified by NCES.
5 DoDDS and DDESS are the Department of Defense dependents schools (overseas) and the Department of Defense dependents schools (domestic), respectively.
NOTE: A dropout is an individual who was enrolled in school at some time during the previous school year, but was not enrolled at the beginning of the current school year, has not graduated from high school or completed a state- or district-approved education program; and does not meet any of the following exclusionary conditions: transfer to another public school district, private school, or state- or district-approved education program; temporary absence due to suspension or school-approved illness; or death.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), Common Core of Data State-Level Public School Dropout Data File," 2004–05, version 1a.

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