High School Graduation

High School Graduation in California

California

The connection between education and health is well-documented. Higher educational attainment is associated with better jobs, higher earnings, increased health literacy, better self-reported health and fewer chronic conditions. Individuals with lower educational attainment are at a greater risk of adverse health outcomes such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, lung disease, mental health problems and premature death. Additionally, students who drop out of high school are more likely to experience incarceration.

According to one study, eight times more lives would be saved if the gap in mortality rates by education level was closed in line with medical advances. Each high school dropout costs the United States more than $260,000 in lost revenue over a lifetime based on the differences between dropouts and graduates in income, taxes paid and government spending on health, crime and welfare. Increased time in school is also connected to higher civic engagement in adulthood.

The prevalence of high school graduation is higher among:

• Asian and non-Hispanic white students compared with American Indian/Alaska Native and non-Hispanic Black students.
• Students who do not have children compared with students who have children. 
• Students who do not have a disability compared with students who have a disability.
• Students who are proficient in English compared with students with limited English proficiency.

Keeping children and adolescents in school through high school graduation and beyond is key to increasing equitable health outcomes. Several programs have been successful in improving high school graduation rates by targeting high-risk populations. Programs aimed at increasing high school graduation rates — and ultimately, health equity — include: 

• Vocational training and alternative schooling.
• Social-emotional skills training.
• College-oriented programming, mentoring and counseling.
• Attendance monitoring and case management.
• Community service opportunities.

Interventions to increase high school graduation rates should target social, economic and health-related barriers to graduation. These include absenteeism, chronic illness, poverty, hunger, developmental delay due to chronic stress, homelessness and teen pregnancy. The expansion of school-based health centers can help address these barriers.

Increasing the proportion of students who graduate in four years with a regular diploma is a Healthy People 2030 adolescent health objective.

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