Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2009

"...This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2009, provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last nearly four decades (1972–2009),5 and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts and high school completers in 2009..."