Report shows Utah dropout rate slightly declining

New federal report shows percentage of Utah public high school dropouts declining

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A new federal report says the number of students dropping out of Utah's public high schools has been declining in recent years.

The National Center for Education Statistics released the report on Tuesday showing data for the 2009-2010 school year, which is the most recent data available.

Of the 161,457 students who enrolled at the beginning of the year in Utah, 4,133 students dropped out.

That's a 2.6 percent dropout rate, which falls below the national median rate at 3.4 percent.

Utah's rate for the previous school year was 3.3 percent.

The dropout rate has dropped more than a full percentage point in five years. In the 2004-2005 school year, Utah's dropout rate was 3.7 percent.