Definition: Percentage of public school students who do not complete high school with their graduating class (e.g., in 2021, 9.4% of California students from the graduating class did not complete high school). Use caution when comparing data for 2016 and earlier years—annotated with an asterisk (*)—against 2017 and later.
Data Source: California Dept. of Education, Dropouts by Race and Gender (Jun. 2017) & Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate and Outcome Data (May 2022).
Footnote: Years presented are the final year of a school year (e.g., 2020-21 is shown as 2021). Students who do not complete high school are those who do not receive a regular high school diploma or other credential, do not transfer to an adult education program or community college before the end of the fourth year, and do not remain enrolled after the end of the fourth year. The graduating class, or four-year adjusted cohort, is composed of students entering Grade 9 for the first time, adjusted for students who subsequently transfer in, transfer out, or pass away during Grade 9 or the following three years. Prior to 2017, students transferring to adult education programs or community colleges were excluded from the graduating class. Due to changes in methodology, the Dept. of Education recommends that data for 2016 and earlier years—annotated here with an asterisk (*)—should not be compared with 2017 and later. The notation S refers to percentages that have been suppressed because there were fewer than 20 students not completing high school, to numbers (for 2016* and earlier) that have been suppressed because there were fewer than 11 students not completing high school, and to numbers (for 2017 and later) that have been suppressed because there were fewer than 11 students in the graduating class. N/A means that data are not available.
