Dropout Rate Unchanged, Study Finds

Little progress was made in reducing the high school dropout rate nationwide in the 1980s and, despite some gains, Latinos and blacks generally remain behind other ethnic groups in educational attainment, according to a new report by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

The survey showed that 85.5% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 29 had completed high school by 1989, virtually the same as the 85.6% recorded in 1979. That is in contrast to the sharp improvement recorded between 1959, when the rate was 63.9%, and 1979.

Robert Kominski, educational branch chief of the census, suggested that a hard-core 15% of students year after year remain unaffected by various efforts to keep them in school.

“A different strategy may be required to get . . . them successfully through the system,” Kominski said in a telephone interview Wednesday from Washington. “We have a system that works well for a large proportion of the people, but it doesn’t work for everyone.”

In addition, the survey ranked California 24th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in high school graduation rate. Californians’ record for attending college was more impressive. The state placed eighth from the top, a showing Kominski attributed to the its strong public systems of higher education and their relatively low tuition.

Nationally, Latinos and blacks showed rises in high school graduation and college attendance, but both groups still lag behind Anglos, the study found. In 1989, 86% of Anglos between the ages of 25 and 29 had high school diplomas, compared to 82.2% of blacks and 61% of Latinos. Blacks’ high school completion rate rose more than seven percentage points over the 1979 figure, while the Latino rate was up four points. The rate at which Anglos graduated from high school remained about the same.

The survey of 58,000 households did not include separate statistics for Asian-American young people because the number sampled was considered too small and unreliable, officials said. But the study suggests that they have attained a high level of education.

Among Latinos 25 or older, an estimated 9.9% attended four or more years of college. Among blacks, the rate was 11.8%, while among Anglos it was 21.8%. In the category of all other ethnic groups, which was dominated by Asians, 34.2% completed at least four years of college.

The study also showed a strong link between education and earnings. In 1989, the average income for a high school graduate was $15,886, less than half the average of $32,544 earned by an adult with at least four years of college.

An estimated 26.4% of Californians age 25 and over had completed four or more years of college in 1989. The District of Columbia showed the top college attendance rate, 35.2%, while West Virginia had the lowest, 11.1%.

The high school completion rate for Californians 25 and older was 78.6%, compared to 88.2% in Utah and Washington state, which were tied for first place, and 63.2% for bottom-ranked Alabama.

The seeming disparity between California’s rankings on high school and college achievement can be explained by two factors, Kominski said. First, many other states charge much higher tuition for public colleges and universities, discouraging some students from attending. California’s strong college attendance rate also reflects the number of well-educated people who have moved to California for jobs after attending college in other states, he explained.

Susie Lange, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Education, said an influx of immigrants who lack formal schooling may be contributing to the state’s middling high school completion statistics. Still, she said she was pleased that California’s rate rose from 75.3% to 78.6% between 1979 and 1989.

“We have seen some improvement,” Lange said. “There has been a lot of effort to bring kids’ awareness up that they are going to hit a dead end quickly in getting jobs if they don’t have a high school diploma.”

The study, which has been conducted about every two years, is broader than similar ones in the past and includes figures on all 50 states and the nation’s capital, plus 37 metropolitan areas.

Three of the four California metropolitan areas studied did well on high school completion. In Sacramento, 88.7% of residents 25 and older had high school diplomas in 1989, ranking third out of 37 areas nationally. San Diego placed seventh, with 85.7%, and the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area was 13th, with 82.8%. The Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside area placed 31st, with 76.1%. Nationally, among the 37 metropolitan areas surveyed, the Seattle-Tacoma area had the highest high school rate, with 90.3%, while San Antonio, at 68.5%, had the lowest.

In terms of college attendance for at least four years, the Washington metropolitan area had the highest percentage--41.2%--while San Antonio was last, at 15.2%. The San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area was second, at 34.3%; San Diego was eighth, at 28.3%; Sacramento was tied with St. Louis for 10th, at 27%; and Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside was 15th, at 25.4%.

Education Completion Rates

A national study by the U.S. Bureau of the Census on educational attainment offered these statistics on high school and college completion rates in four major metropolitan areas in California. The figures are based on interviews with people 25 years of age or older.

% Completing Metropolitan % Graduating 4 or More Area from High School Years of College *Sacramento 88.7 27.0 *San Diego 85.7 28.3 *San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose 82.8 34.3 *Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside 76.1 25.4