NCES reports that on average, 3.4 percent of students who were enrolled in public or private
high schools in October 2008 left school before October 2009 without completing a high school
program. Broken down by race, the estimated event dropout rates were 2.4% for Whites, 4.8%
for African Americans, and 5.8% for Latinos. NCES did not find a significant difference in the
2009 event dropout rates for males and females. In terms of age, older students (ages 20 through
24) are at a greater dropout risk than students aged 15 through 17.
A strong link exists between poverty and high school dropout rates. Students from low-income
families dropped out of high school five times more than students from high-income families in
2009.