AMERICA GRADUATION FROM HIGH-SCHOOL - THE EVOLUTION AND SPREAD OF SECONDARY SCHOOLING IN THE 20TH-CENTURY

Secondary-school enrollment and graduation rates increased spectacular ly in much of the United States from 1910 to 1940; the advance was par ticularly rapid from 1920 to 1935 in the nonsouthern states. This incr ease was uniquely American; no other nation underwent an equivalent ch ange for several decades. States that rapidly expanded their high scho ol enrollments early in the period had greater wealth, more homogeneit y of wealth, and less manufacturing activity than others. Factors prom pting the expansion include the substantial returns to education early in the century and a responsive ''state.'' This work is based on a ne wly constructed state-level data set.