High School Completion

Attainment of a high school diploma or its equivalent is an indicator that a person has acquired the basic academic skills needed to function in today's society. The percentage of young adults ages 18–24 with a high school diploma or an equivalent credential is a measure of the extent to which young adults have completed a basic prerequisite for many entry-level jobs and higher education. Persons with higher levels of education tend to have better economic outcomes than their peers with lower levels of education.108

Indicator ED4: Percentage of young adults ages 18–24 who have completed high school by race and Hispanic origin, 2000–2021
Indicator ED4: Percentage of young adults ages 18–24 who have completed high school by race and Hispanic origin, 2000–2021

NOTE: High school completion is measured by the attainment of a high school diploma or equivalent. Diploma equivalents include alternative credentials obtained by passing exams such as the General Educational Development (GED) test. For 2000 through 2002 data, the 1977 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards for data on race and ethnicity were used to classify persons into one of the following four racial groups: White, Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, or Asian or Pacific Islander. Beginning with the 2003 data, the 1997 OMB standards were used to classify persons into one of the following six racial groups: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or Two or more races. Data on race and Hispanic origin are collected separately. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Due to the adoption of the 1997 OMB standards, data for 2003 and subsequent years are not strictly comparable with earlier data.

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, School Enrollment Supplement.

  • In 2021, about 94% of young adults ages 18–24 had completed high school with a diploma or an alternative credential, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate. The high school completion rate has increased since 2000, though there was no measurable difference between the rates in 2021 and 2019, the year immediately before the pandemic.
  • Between 2000 and 2021, the high school completion rate increased for Black, non-Hispanic young adults (from 84% to 96%) and for White, non-Hispanic young adults (from 92% to 95%).
  • During this period, the completion rate for Black, non-Hispanic young adults was lower than that for their White, non-Hispanic peers in every year between 2000 and 2016. In every year between 2017 and 2021, the rates were not measurably different between these two groups.
  • The completion rate for Hispanic young adults increased 26 percentage points109 between 2000 and 2021, from 64% to 90%, although it was consistently lower than the rates for their White, non-Hispanic and Black, non-Hispanic peers during this period.
  • High school completion rates increased between 2003 (when separate data became available for all race groups) and 2021 for young adults who were Hispanic (from 69% to 90%); American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic (from 78% to 91%); Black, non-Hispanic (from 85% to 96%); White, non-Hispanic (from 92% to 95%); and Asian (from 95% to 98%). In contrast, the completion rates in 2021 for non-Hispanic young adults who were of Two or more races (94%) and Pacific Islander (95%) were not statistically different from the rates in 2003.
  • In 2021, the high school completion rate was lower for Hispanic young adults (90%) than for their peers of many other racial groups (specifically, 95% for White, non-Hispanic young adults, 96% for Black, non-Hispanic young adults, and 98% for Asian, non-Hispanic young adults). In addition, the completion rates for Black, non-Hispanic young adults (96%) and White, non-Hispanic young adults (95%) were lower than the rate for their Asian, non-Hispanic peers (98%).

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108 Lewis, K., & Gluskin, R. (2018). Two futures: The economic case for keeping youth on track. Measure of America of the Social Science Research Council. http://www.measureofamerica.org/PSID.

109 Although rounded numbers are presented in this indicator, calculations are based on unrounded data.

Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics

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