DATA

POINT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

NCES 2015-066 FEBRUARY 2015 

Early High School

 Dropouts: What Are

 Their Characteristics?

Data in this report are from the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS:09) 

a nationally representative sample survey. To learn more, visit 

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/hsls09. For questions about content or to view this 

report online, go to http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2015066.

Data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), a nationally representative, longitudinal study of more than 23,000 

ninth-graders in 2009, were used for this report. HSLS:09 surveyed students, their parents, math and science teachers, school administrators, and school counselors. The study included information about students who were enrolled in school in the fall term of 2009 as 

ninth-graders and who were not enrolled in school and had not earned a regular high school diploma or alternative credential such as a 

GED in spring 2012, when they should have been 11th-graders. These students are referred to as “dropouts” in this report.1

What percentage of 

enrolled ninth-graders 

dropped out of school 

between fall 2009 and 

spring 2012 and how did 

the percentage vary by 

race/ethnicity? 

• Among 2009 ninth-graders,

2.7 percent had dropped out

by 2012, when they should

have been 11th-graders.

(Figure 1).

• Dropout rates for Black,

Hispanic, and White students

were 4.3 percent, 3.5 percent,

and 2.1 percent, respectively.

Asian students had the lowest

dropout rate (0.3 percent).2

(Figure 1).

FIGURE 1. Percentage of 2009 ninth-graders who dropped out of high school, 

by race/ethnicity: 2012 

2.7

2.1*

4.3*

3.5*

0.3

2.7*

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

Total White Black Hispanic Asian Other

Race/ethnicity

Percent

NOTE: Dropouts are students who were not enrolled in school and had not completed high school or an alternative program as of the 2012 interview. The “Other” 

group includes American Indian/Alaska Native, More than one race, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. All race categories exclude Hispanic or Latino origin, 

unless specified. The racial/ethnic group rates with a * were significantly different from the Asian group’s rate. Standard error tables are available at 

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2015066. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 

(HSLS:09) First Follow-up Public-Use Data File (NCES 2014-358).
More About Early High School Dropouts

What were the dropout

rates of males and females, 

and how did dropout rates 

vary by socioeconomic 

status (SES)? 

• Between 2009 and 2012, 

some 2.7 percent of males 

and 2.6 percent of females 

had dropped out, a difference that is not statistically 

significant. (Figure 2). 

• About 5 percent of students 

who were in the lowest fifth 

of the 2012 SES distribution

(first SES quintile) had 

dropped out between 2009 

and 2012. (Figure 2).3

• In contrast, 0.6 percent of 

students in the highest 

fifth of the 2012 SES 

distribution had dropped 

out. (Figure 2).

FIGURE 2. Percentage of 2009 ninth-graders who dropped out of high school, by sex and 

socioeconomic status: 2012 

2.7 2.6

4.7*

4.1*

2.5*

1.6*

0.6

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

Male Female First

(lowest SES)

quintile

Second

quintile

Third

quintile

Fourth

quintile

Fifth

(highest SES)

quintile

Sex Family socioeconomic status in 2012

Percent

NOTE: Dropouts are students who were not enrolled in school and had not completed high school or an alternative program as of the 2012 interview. 

Socioeconomic status (SES) is an index score of the family’s relative social position based on parents’ education, occupational prestige, and family income. Here, 

SES is reported in quintiles (fifths) by dividing the weighted SES index score distribution into five equal groups. The first quintile is the lowest one-fifth of the SES 

distribution and fifth quintile is the highest. Estimates with * are significantly different from the estimate for the highest SES quintile. Detail may not sum to totals 

because of rounding. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2015066.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 

(HSLS:09) First Follow-up Public-Use Data File (NCES 2014-358).

Endnotes

1 The First Look report for HSLS:09 (NCES 2014-

360) also reported estimates on dropouts which 

are slightly different from those reported in this 

DataPoint because the First Look report did not 

include ninth-grade dropouts. 

2 The race/ethnicity distribution of the population 

from which these dropout rates were calculated 

is 51.9 percent White, 13.7 percent Black, 22.3 

percent Hispanic, 3.6 percent Asian, and 8.4 

percent Other (Ingels, S.J., and Dalton, B. 

(2013). High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 

(HSLS:09) First Follow-up: A First Look at Fall 

2009 Ninth-Graders in 2012 (NCES 2014-360).

3 See figure note for quintile definition. 

This NCES Data Point presents information on education topics of 

interest. It was authored by Jeffrey A. Rosen, Xianglei Chen, and 

Steven Ingels of RTI International. Estimates based on samples are 

subject to sampling variability, and apparent differences may not be 

statistically significant. All noted differences are statistically significant 

at the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of 

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys, efforts are 

made to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item 

nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other 

systematic error.