National High School Alliance

Why Transform High Schools? Key Data Points

1.2 million students who entered ninth grade in 2002 failed to graduate in 20061
Thirty percent of all students did not graduate in 2003. Broken down further, 53 percent of American Indian students, 48 percent of black students, and 44 percent of Hispanic students did not graduate.1
Seventy-four percent of suburban students graduated in 2003, while just 60 percent of urban students graduated.1
Thirty-five percent of dropouts leave high school after the between the 9th and 10th grades.1
Eight percent of youth ages 16-19 are neither enrolled in school nor working.2
Nearly 40 percent of students who drop out of high school are from the nation's lowest socioeconomic group. Just eight percent of those in the two highest socioeconomic groups drop out.3

Eighty-eight percent of 8th graders expect to participate in some form of secondary education.4
Between 2000 and 2010, the number of 20-24 year olds searching for jobs and training opportunities will increase by 21 percent, and the skill levels required for those jobs will be higher than in the past.5
More than 70 percent of both college professors and employers said that recent high school graduates were unable to write clearly and had only poor or fair grammar and spelling skills.6
Employment projections indicate that jobs requiring only a high school degree will grow by just 9 percent by the year 2008 while those requiring a bachelor's degree will grow by 25 percent and those requiring an associate's degree will grow by 31 percent.5
In 2001, only 55 percent of young adult high school dropouts were employed as opposed to 74 percent of high school graduates, 81 percent of those completing some college and 87 percent of four-year college graduates.7
In 2005, just 14 percent of jobs were unskilled. Eighty-six percent were skilled or professional jobs requiring higher levels of education and training.8
A bachelor's degree recipient can expect to earn 73 percent more over a 40 year working life than a high school graduate.9

Just five percent of the public believes that high schools work well the way they are now. Fifty-one percent believe that major changes or a complete overhaul is needed.10
Sixty-three percent of the American public believes that high schools are not doing enough to give students going into the work force the training and skills they will need. Fifty-one percent believe that high schools are not doing enough to prepare students to be successful in two- or four- year colleges.10