Useful Stats: Public High School Graduation Rates by State

An educated workforce is one of the elements required for a knowledge economy, but not all of the critical jobs require a Ph.D. or even a B.A. Few would dispute, though, the importance of successfully completing high school.

With a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Center for Civic Innovation at the Manhattan Institute has prepared a report entitled Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States. The report includes several tables presenting the high school graduation rates by state and race. Overall, 10 states had graduation rates above 80 percent (shown in parentheses): North Dakota (89), Utah (87), Iowa (85), South Dakota (85), West Virginia (84), Nebraska (84), New Jersey (84), Wisconsin (81), Montana (81), and Idaho (81).

The center also computed the percentage of students graduating with college-ready transcripts, using three screens to calculate the minimum requirements necessary to enroll in the average four-year college. The results are presented in Appendix Table 9.

[Editor's Note: The method employed to calculate college readiness and the resulting statistics overlook the important role community colleges and technical schools play in preparing a competitive workforce. Every job does not require a degree from a four-year school. Conversely, a university degree (or higher) does not prepare a person for every required job.

In addition, the authors state they "have no reason to believe that levels of college readiness had changed dramatically" from 1998 to 2001. SSTI wonders if that assumption is safe given the wealth generated and attention given to science and tech fields during the period, most notably in the biotech, information technology and telecommunications sectors.]

Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States is available for download at: http://www.miedresearchoffice.org/