The latest federal data on high school completion find that 3 million Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 were dropouts, meaning they lacked a high school credential and were not currently enrolled in school.
The percentage of young people who fell into that category varied by race and ethnicity: Hispanics had the highest rate (17.6 percent), followed by African-Americans (9.3 percent), whites (5.2 percent), and Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (3.4 percent).
The data also show that 75.5 percent of first-time high school freshmen in 2004-05 graduated on time in 2009.
