Almost one-third of all American public high school students, and one-half of African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, fail to graduate from high school with their class. In recent years, more states have been passing or introducing legislation to raise the compulsory school age. Today's globally competitive economy requires at least a…

The central message of this report is that while some students drop out because of significant academic challenges, most dropouts are students who could have, and believe they could have, succeeded in school. This survey of young people who left high school without graduating suggests that, despite career aspirations that require education beyond…