Upper Compulsory School Age

States have been examining their compulsory school age limits as a dropout prevention strategy, in conjunction with polices that enforce attendance requirements and require students to be informed of the economic consequences and high school diploma options if they do drop out. 

The January 2011 recommendations of the NCSL Task Force on School Dropout Prevention and Recovery address compulsory school age. In the report, the task force recommends that states “Conduct policy audits, eliminate counterproductive policies and provide incentives for collaboration.”  The report discusses compulsory school age as follows:

“Evidence suggests that raising the maximum compulsory school age above 16 curtails dropout rates and produces other positive results. Until recently, most states permitted students to drop out of high school at age 16; now, 32 states have set their compulsory school age to 17 or 18. States can make maximum compulsory school attendance requirements more meaningful by revoking work permits and driving privileges of students who drop out before the state-set minimum school-leaving age. States also can require that students who withdraw from school before graduation receive information not only about the economic consequences of dropping out, but also how they can complete their high school diploma after they do so.”

Mandatory School Age in the States

As of August 2013, 16 states and the Virgin Islands have set the state compulsory school age at 16 years old;11 states at 17 years old; and 23 states and the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico at 18 years old.

Additonal Resources

• Compulsory School Age Requirements (Education Commission of the States, 2013)
• Raising the School Compulsory Attendance Age: The Case for Reform (Civic Enterprises, 2007)
• Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic (Civic Enterprises, Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University and America’s Promise Alliance, 2010)
• Does Raising the State Compulsory School Attendance Age Achieve the Intended Outcome? (U.S. Department of Education, December 2013)
• Does Raising the Compulsory School Attendance Age Increase Graduation Rates? (Duke University,2010)
• Raise the Age, Lower the Dropout Rate? Considerations for Policy Makers (Rennie Center, 2009)
• Task Force to Study Raising the Compulsory Public School Attendance Age to 18 Final Report (Maryland Legislature, 2006)