The Drop-Out Rate Declined in the 1990s

In its report, School Enrollment: 2000, the Census Bureau reports that the percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds who did not complete high school declined from 11.2 to 9.8 percent between 1990 and 2000 -- from 1.61 million to 1.57 million. Almost half (49 percent) of 3- and 4-year-olds were in preschool and 91 percent of 5- and 6-year-olds were in school. Thirty-six percent of young adults (aged 20 to 24) were enrolled in college.