Asian American Students Top U.S. Graduation Rates

By Jhee Yoon

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Asian/Pacific Islanders have the highest high school graduation rates of any ethnic groups in America, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Education. 93.5% of Asian and Pacific Islander students received diplomas at the end of the 2009-2010 school year, the focus of a study from DOE’s National Center for Education Statistics.

AAPI students are followed by white student graduates (83.0 percent), Hispanics (71.4 percent), American Indian/Alaska Natives (69.1 percent), and African Americans (66.1 percent).

Asian Americans also do best at the other end of the spectrum, having the lowest calculated dropout rate of 1.9 %, followed by white students, who have a 2.3 percent dropout rate. The dropout rate for Hispanics students is 5.0%, followed by African Americans at 5.5%, and American Indian/Alaska Natives at 6.7%.

The U.S. Department of Education also released new data showing the overall high school graduation rate is at 78.2%, a rise of 2.7% that DOE calls the highest level in more than three decades.

“The new NCES report is good news,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “After three decades of stagnation, the on-time graduation rate for high school students in the 2009–10 school year is the highest it’s been since at least 1974.”

According to the report, the states with the highest graduation rates are Vermont (91.4%) and Wisconsin (91.1%). The District of Columbia came in second to last in the nation, with an overall high school graduation rate of 59.9%. Only Nevada performed worse than Washington, D.C., with a graduation rate of 57.8%. Nationwide, males (3.8%) have a higher dropout rate than females (2.9%).