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Society and Culture > Education > Elementary and High School Education

State Compulsory School Attendance Laws

Here's a list of each U.S. state's comulsory school attendance laws and the date they were implemented.

State	Enactment¹	Compulsory attendance, 2002
Alabama	1915	7–16
Alaska	1929	7–16
Arizona	1899	6–16²
Arkansas	1909	5–17³
California	1874	6–18
Colorado	1889	—
Connecticut	1872	7–18⁴
Delaware	1907	5–16⁵
District of Columbia	1864	5–18
Florida	1915	6–16⁶
Georgia	1916	6–16
Hawaii	1896	6–18
Idaho	1887	7–16
Illinois	1883	7–16
Indiana	1897	7–16
Iowa	1902	6–16⁷
Kansas	1874	7–18⁴
Kentucky	1896	6–16⁸
Louisiana	1910	7–17
Maine	1875	7–17
Maryland	1902	5–16
Massachusetts	1852	6–16
Michigan	1871	6–16
Minnesota	1885	7–16
Mississippi	1918	6–17
Missouri	1905	7–16
Montana	1883	7–16⁹
Nebraska	1887	7–16
Nevada	1873	7–17
New Hampshire	1871	6–16
New Jersey	1875	6–16
New Mexico	1891	5–18
New York	1874	6–16
North Carolina	1907	7–16
North Dakota	1883	7–16
Ohio	1877	6–18
Oklahoma	1907	5–18
Oregon	1889	7–18
Pennsylvania	1895	8–17
Rhode Island	1883	6–16
South Carolina	1915	5–16
South Dakota	1883	6–16
Tennessee	1905	6–17
Texas	1915	6–18
Utah	1890	6–18
Vermont	1867	6–16
Virginia	1908	5–18
Washington	1871	8–17⁴
West Virginia	1897	6–16
Wisconsin	1879	6–18
Wyoming	1876	6–16²

NOTE: (—) = not available.

1. Date of enactment of first compulsory attendance law.

2. Ages 6–16 or 10th grade completion.

3. Must have turned 17 by October 1.

4. Eligible for waiver.

5. Must have turned 5 by August 31.

6. Compulsory school age for all Manatee County Students who attained the age of 16 on or after October 1, 1999 is 18, unless the student has earned a high school diploma prior to reaching the 18th birthday.

7. Must have turned 16 by September 15.

8. Must have turned 6 by October 1.

9. Age 16 and completion of eighth grade.

Source: Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, 2004.

Elementary and High School Education

Funding for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1919–1920 to 2004–2005

More on State Compulsory School Attendance Laws from Infoplease:

State Compulsory School Attendance Laws - State Compulsory School Attendance Laws Here's a list of each U.S. state's comulsory school ...
Education Facts At a Glance - School facts from the Census Bureau

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