 According to the US Department of Education, status dropout rates measure the percentage of individuals who are not enrolled in high school and who lack a high school credential, independent of when they dropped out.Status rates are higher than event rates because they include all dropouts in this age range, regardless of when they last attended school or whether or not they ever entered the US education system.In October 2001, about 3.8 million 16- through 24-year-olds were not enrolled in a high school program and had not completed high school.