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| Introduction to Outcomes |
| Poor Mental Health Days |
| Poor Physical Health Days |
| Infant Mortality |
| Cardiovascular Deaths |
| Cancer Deaths |
| Premature Death |
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High School Graduation High School Graduation estimates the percentage of students who graduate within four years and are considered regular graduates. The National Center for Education Statistics collects the enrollment and completion data and, now, as part of the No Child Left Behind initiatives, estimates the graduation rate for each state. The rate is the number of graduates divided by the estimated count of freshmen four years earlier. This average freshman enrollment count is the sum of the number of 8th graders five years earlier, the number of 9th graders four years earlier (because this is when current year seniors were freshmen), and the number of 10th graders three years earlier divided by three. Enrollment counts include a proportional distribution of students not enrolled in a specific grade. From 1990 through the 2005 Edition, America’s Health Rankings™ used a different definition of high school graduation (the number of regular graduates divided by the number of 9th graders four years prior), so direct comparison of 2005 Edition values to values published in prior editions is not valid. In this report, data from the 2005 Edition was restated using the NCES definition to allow valid year-to-year comparisons. Data are not adjusted for the presence or quality of basic health and consumer health education in the curriculum, for continuing education programs or for other non-traditional learning programs. Also, individual states are increasingly altering graduation requirements, which may affect their reported number of regular graduates, their graduation rate and the comparability of these rates across time. Education is vital as consumers must be able to learn about, create and maintain a healthy lifestyle and, when necessary, understand their options for care. Table 23 displays the 2006 ranks, based on 2002 to 2003 data (National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Education). The rate varies from 87.0 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years in New Jersey to 59.7 percent in South Carolina. The national average is 73.9 percent, higher than the reported rate for three years prior of 71.7 percent. Graduation rates generally declined from 1990 through early 2000. They have now started to increase but still lag behind rates of the early 1990s.
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