Table 8

Course-taking in high school, various high school graduation cohorts, 1982 to 2009

Course (Carnegie units) 1982 1990 1994 1998 2000 2005 2009
Geometry (≥1.0) 47.1 63.2 70.0 75.1 78.3 83.3 88.3
Algebra II (≥0.5) 39.9 52.9 61.1 61.7 67.8 70.3 75.5
Analysis/pre-calculus (≥0.5) 6.2 13.3 17.3 23.1 26.7 29.5 35.3
Statistics/probability (≥0.5) 1.0 1.0 2.0 3.7 5.7 7.7 10.8
Calculus (≥1.0) 5.0 6.5 9.3 11.0 11.6 13.6 15.9
AP calculus (≥1.0) 1.6 4.1 7.0 6.7 7.9 9.2 11.0
Science
    Chemistry (≥1.0) 32.1 48.9 55.8 60.4 62.0 66.2 70.4
    Physics (≥1.0) 15.0 21.5 24.5 28.8 31.4 32.7 36.1
    Engineering (≥1.0) 1.2 4.2 4.5 6.7 3.9 4.3 8.2
    Geology/earth science (≥0.5) 13.6 24.7 22.9 20.7 17.4 23.1 27.7
    Biology and chemistry (≥2.0) 29.3 47.5 53.7 59.0 59.4 64.3 68.3
    Biology, chemistry, and physics (≥3.0) 11.2 18.8 21.4 25.4 25.1 27.3 30.1
Economic Policy Institute

Notes: For each course category, percentages include only students who earned at least the number of credits shown in parentheses.

Source: Adapted from Table 225.30, Digest of Education Statistics 2013 edition (U.S. Department of Education 2013), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_225.30.asp

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