Dropout rates reflect 1996 freshmen who didn't return for a second year. Graduation rates reflect 1994 freshmen earning an associate's degree and 1992 freshmen earning a bachelor's degree by summer 1997. ACT's annual National Dropout and Graduation Rates reports summarize this data for public and private postsecondary institutions according to degrees offered and admissions selectivity. The full report for 1998 is also available.
Earlier years are also available.
State and institutional data are not available. The percentage of freshmen who drop out of college improved slightly in 1998, for the second year in a row, according to a report released today by ACT, Inc., but the rate at which undergraduates complete their degrees fell to a third consecutive record low. The decrease in the overall dropout rate can be attributed to private colleges, where the percentage of freshmen who didn't return fell for the first time in a decade, to 25.3 from the high of 25.9 in 1996 and 1997. Public colleges and universities experienced a slight increase, of 0.2 percent. Nevertheless, the dropout rate at those institutions remains below the 1988 peak.