School Enrollment Rate by Age: 1970, 1980, 2006
I’ve previously discussed how the effective high school graduation rate is higher than critics of the education system will acknowledge. But graduation is an arbitrary demarcation along the learning curve for most American students. Perhaps a better way to examine educational progression is to simply to look at whether young people are still a part of the formal education system at a given age.
| Age: | 1970 | 1980 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 and 15 years old | 98.1 | 98.2 | 98.3 |
| 16 and 17 years old | 90.0 | 89.0 | 94.6 |
| 18 and 19 years old | 47.7 | 46.4 | 65.5 |
| 20 and 21 years old | 31.9 | 31.0 | 47.5 |
(Source)
Looks to me like significant progress has been made over the last few decades.