Pennsylvania

===Primary and secondary education===
{{See also|List of high schools in Pennsylvania|List of school districts in Pennsylvania}}
[[File:South Philly HS.JPG|thumb|[[South Philadelphia High School]] on [[Broad Street (Philadelphia)|Broad Street]] in [[South Philadelphia]] in February 2010]]
Under state law, school attendance in Pennsylvania is mandatory for children between ages eight and 17, or until graduation from an accredited high school, whichever is earlier, unless students are [[Homeschooling in the United States|homeschooled]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pde.state.pa.us/|title=Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE)|access-date=December 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202153904/http://www.pde.state.pa.us/|archive-date=December 2, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2005, 83.8% of Pennsylvania residents age 18 to 24 are high school graduates; Among residents age 25 and over, 86.7% have graduated from high school.

The following are the four-year graduation rates for students completing high school in 2016:<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Education|title=Cohort Graduation Rate|url=http://www.education.pa.gov/Data-and-Statistics/Pages/Cohort-Graduation-Rate-.aspx#tab-1|access-date=October 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201083645/http://www.education.pa.gov/Data-and-Statistics/Pages/Cohort-Graduation-Rate-.aspx#tab-1|archive-date=February 1, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Cohort !! All Students !! Male!! Female !! White !! Hispanic !! Black !! Asian !! Special Education
|-
| % graduating || 86.09 || 84.14 || 88.13 || 90.48 || 72.83 || 73.22 || 91.21 || 74.06
|}

Among Pennsylvania high school graduates as of 2009, 27.5% of them went on to obtain a bachelor's degree or higher degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nces.ed.gov/|title=National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)|access-date=December 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116125625/http://nces.ed.gov/|archive-date=January 16, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> State students consistently do well in standardized testing. In 2007, Pennsylvania ranked 14th in the nation in mathematics, 12th in reading, and 10th in writing for eighth grade students.<ref>'NCES'.</ref> In 1988, the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]] passed Act 169, which allows parents or guardians to homeschool their children as an alternative to compulsory school attendance. The law specifies varying geographic requirements and responsibilities on the part of parents and school districts.<ref>[http://www.pde.state.pa.us/home_education/site/default.asp Pennsylvania Department of Education: Home Education and Private Tutoring, Retrieved December 4, 2009.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091105050517/http://www.pde.state.pa.us/home_education/site/default.asp |date=November 5, 2009 }}</ref>