Hawai'i ranks high in national graduation study
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
In Hawai'i, 91.8 percent of the population has graduated from high school — one of the best rates in the nation.
Advertiser library photo • June 3, 2001
The percentage of students across the country receiving high school diplomas has increased over the past three years, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Hawai'i has the sixth-best graduation rate in the country.
Nearly nine in 10 people 18 or older had finished high school by last year, according to the report based on Census data.
Hawai'i, which ranks sixth in the nation, was one of 18 states that reached at least a 90 percent graduation rate.
Maine had the highest graduation rate, with 94.5 percent, while Arizona had the lowest, at 73.5 percent.
Nationally, high school completion rates for 18 to 24 year olds rose to 86.5 percent in October 2000, up from 85.9 percent in 1999.
Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the Department of Education, said part of Hawai'i's success is likely linked to a compulsory attendance law that requires students to stay in school until they are 18 years old.
Many states require attendance only until age 16.
But Knudsen also cautioned that the 91.8 percent rate might not be entirely accurate. There are several ways of calculating graduation rates, and while Hawai'i's rate usually measures between 85 and 90 percent, Knudsen said that when students move to other states and school districts, it's hard to tell if they've dropped out or transferred.
"When they apply the same standards to all jurisdictions, I would say Hawai'i does well," Knudsen said. "We have a better rate than most."
In 2000, the national dropout rate for Asian and Pacific Islanders was 3.8 percent compared with 27.8 percent for Hispanics, 13.1 percent for blacks, and 6.9 percent for whites.
The study also found that income is tied to graduation rates. In 2000, the national dropout rate for young adults living in families with incomes in the lowest 20 percent of all family incomes was 10 percent, six times higher than the rate for students in the top 20 percent of family incomes.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
