The Gender Gap in High School Dropout Rates

New data from U.S. Department of Education shows that during the 2008-09 school year, 198,699 female students dropped out of high school in the United States. This was 2.7 percent of all female high school students. During the same period, 267,999 male students dropped out of high school. This was 3.6 percent of all male high school students.

Illinois had the highest dropout rate for female high school students at 8.6 percent. More than 6 percent of all female high school students in Arizona and Alaska dropped out of high school.

The lowest dropout rates for female students were in Wyoming and Alabama. In every state, the female dropout rate was lower than the rate for males.