New data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that during the 2009-10 school year, more than 137,000 Black students in grades 9-12 dropped out of high school in the United States. Thus, 5.5 percent of all African American students in high school that year, dropped out of school. For White students, more than 191,000 dropped out of school, 2.3 percent of all boys in high school that year. Thus, the Black student high school dropout rate was more than twice the rate for Whites.
For African Americans, the highest dropout rate was in the state of Wyoming, where 13.1 percent of all Blacks in high school that year dropped out. In Ohio, New Mexico, Mississippi, Michigan, and Iowa, 9 percent or more of all Black high school students dropped out during the 2009-10 school year. The state with the lowest dropout rate for Blacks was Vermont. In Alabama, Idaho, and New Hampshire the Black student dropout rate is 2 percent or lower.
In every state in the union except Vermont, the dropout rate for Blacks was higher than the dropout rate for Whites.
