The decision to drop out of school does not always indicate the culmination of a young person's education.
Many former students reconsider their decision to drop out and return to high school.
Eighty-eight percent of the 1990 cohort had completed high school by August following their senior year of high school, compared to 80 percent of the sophomore class of 1980. Dropouts from the 1990 sophomore class were more likely to return to school than were their counterparts a decade earlier. Almost 58 percent of dropouts from the 1990 cohort either completed or were re-enrolled in school 2 years after their scheduled graduation, compared to 34 percent of dropouts from the 1980 cohort. Includes those who graduated from high school and those who received an alternative credential. Enrolled in a regular high school or alternative program.