Dropout rate

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The term "dropout rate" refers to the event dropout rate, which is defined by the U.S. Department of Education as follows:

“	[The] proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts.	”
—U.S. Department of Education

The event dropout rate is different from the status dropout rate, which measures the percentage of a population that did not complete high school.

HIGHLIGHTS

During the 2011-2012 school year, the average public high school event dropout rate in the United States was 3.3 percent.

In the 2011–2012 school year, 20 states and the District of Columbia had an event dropout rate that was higher than the national dropout rate.

Thirty states had an event dropout rate that was lower than the national dropout rate.

See the table below for a full list of the dropout rates for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Full table

Note: Click on a column heading to sort the data.

State event dropout rates
State	2010-2011	2011-2012
Alabama	1.4	1.4
Alaska	6.9	7
Arizona	5	5.9
Arkansas	3.5	3.2
California	4.2	4
Colorado	5.1	4.9
Connecticut	1.9	2.1
Delaware	3.6	3.5
District of Columbia	6.1	5.8
Florida	2.1	2.1
Georgia	3.9	3.9
Hawaii	5.1	4.7
Idaho	1.6	1.9
Illinois	2.9	2.4
Indiana	1.8	2.1
Iowa	3.4	3.2
Kansas	2.3	2.1
Kentucky	2.5	2.5
Louisiana	3.9	5.7
Maine	3.5	3.2
Maryland	3.3	3.8
Massachusetts	2.7	2.5
Michigan	7.2	6.9
Minnesota	1.8	1.9
Mississippi	3.2	3.2
Missouri	3.4	2.9
Montana	4.3	4.1
Nebraska	2.1	2.2
Nevada	4.1	3.9
New Hampshire	1.3	1.3
New Jersey	1.4	1.4
New Mexico	6.6	6.4
New York	3.6	3.8
North Carolina	3.9	3.1
North Dakota	3.3	3
Ohio	4.4	4.6
Oklahoma	2.5	2.5
Oregon	3.2	3.4
Pennsylvania	2.2	2.8
Rhode Island	5.2	4.2
South Carolina	2.8	2.5
South Dakota	2.6	3.1
Tennessee	3.6	3.7
Texas	2.4	2.5
Utah	1.5	1.5
Vermont	2.5	2.5
Virginia	2.3	1.9
Washington	4	3.8
West Virginia	3.4	2.7
Wisconsin	2	1.9
Wyoming	5.4	4.3
United States	3.3	3.3