It depends on the school, as Krisstah said. My school required 23 (higher than average, not public school), with main requirements being two math credits, two science credits, two history credits, four english credits, two foreign language credits, and then a certain number of electives. There were other required classes, but those were the basics.

Most schools do letter and percentage grades. Our school graded as follows:

A (93%+)
B (86%+)
C (75%+)
D (68%+)
F (73%-)

But most public schools are a bit easier on you grading as follows:

A (90%+)
B (80%+)
C (70%+)
D (65%+)
E (64%-)

Wow, really 23? My school was a public school and we had to have 28 credits to graduate (if you passed every class, you were supposed to have a total of 32, so it gave room for 4 fails). We also basically went on the 2nd grading schedule that you posted, we didn't have D's or E's, though:
A - 90+
B - 80+
C - 70+
F - 60+

Maybe it was 32. One of those. Haha.

Gosh those percentages seem very high!

In the UK its for 16-18 years
A 70%
B 60%
C 50%
D 40%
U/fail 39% and below

You can also be considered a 'college dropout' as well, if you drop out of college/uni... but I guess being called a high school dropout is more important because finishing high school is important. Uni is an option, it's not required.

I'm a university drop out! Woo! ;D

Where I come from you have to be 18 to get your GED

Home schooling is equivalent. And dropping out is legal only after age 16 as far as I'm aware. At age 16 you can make your own choices when it comes to education. Before that I'm pretty sure you and your parents can get in trouble.

Sorry but that commerical pisses me off, singing has nothing to do with being a high school graduate.
Plenty of muscians ans singer/songwriters have not graduated from high school.

1) What grade did you drop out of high school? 9th
2) Why did you drop out? i had pretty much already stopped going because it was around the time my dad was dianosed with cancer.i 'officaly' dropped out due to threats on my life by an ex that attended the same school
3) Are/did you plan(ing) on getting a GED? i got my GED when i was seventeen.
4) Do you regret dropping out at all? If so/not, why? in some ways,i do,because i missed prom an all that.but in other ways,being OUT of school let me focus more on the things that really mattered,rather then dealing with drama an getting in fights all the time,and i got to be with my dad when he got sick
5) How did dropping out of high school change your life? it HAS made it harder to get a decent job,because people do tend to look at GED's as meaning you were too stupid to pass highschool

i dropped out at 16,got my GED at seventeen,an am 19 currently. im female an white/native american

..is that all the info the original poster asked for?
if they need anything else,just ask.i have no problems talking about it

SEE, THIS IS THE KIND OF THING I'M CURIOUS ABOUT, YO (NOT TO YOU SPECIFICALLY, BUT YOUR POST ILLUSTRATES ONE OF MY QUESTIONS). IN AMERICA IF SOMEONE DROPS OUT OF SCHOOL DUE TO FAMILY DIFFICULTY, CAN THEY NOT RETURN AND GET A PROPER EQUIVALENT TO HIGH SCHOOL QUALIFICATIONS? LIKE, I KNOW A GIRL WHO QUIT SCHOOL WHEN SHE WAS 17 BECAUSE HER PARENTS BOTH DIED WITHIN MONTHS OF EACH OTHER, SO OBVIOUSLY IT WAS A DIFFICULT TIME FOR HER, BUT SHE THEN RETURNED TO SCHOOL A YEAR LATER AND WAS ABLE TO DO HER A LEVELS AND THEN GO TO UNI AND DO WELL AND STUFF. DOES THIS SORT OF THING SIMPLY NOT HAPPEN IN AMERICA?

i dont know about all the schools in the states,but i went to an academy,an they had rules that if if you have only one parent,and they fall ill, your allowed to take a 'leave of absence' (i think it for up to one full school year)to take care of them,and at the start of the next term you can go an take your exams,an if you've kept up,they'll put you in the proper grade,or if you've fallen behind you can re-enter the last grade you were in
but since i lived with both my mom and dad an my mom was healthy enough to work,i wasnt qualified for the leave of absence thing.(which is really stupid,because my mother was working a minimum wage job at the point)

So dropping out was the only 'option' that was avaible to me

GOSH, IT SEEMS QUITE BIZARRE. COULD YOU NOT HAVE USED THE QUALIFICATIONS YOU'D OBTAINED SO FAR AND THEN TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER SCHOOL?

it does seem bizzare i know. but like i said,i went to an academy,and because of their rules, i was considered a 'drop out' meaning i wouldn't be able to get into another academy. an most public school that i know of,once you've been labeled a drop out,they won't take you either. (the American school system is really stupid)
but I mean,it really doesn't matter,because i wasn't going to go back anyways,since im still helping to take care of my dad.
altho,it does suck that middle school,i was already working on a college level,but because i dropped out,im still seen as stupid

WHAT IS AN ACADEMY IN THE US? HERE IT IS A SPECIALISED COLLEGE - LIKE AN ACADEMY OF MUSIC, OR AN ACADEMY OF ART.

there is different definitions,like there "christian academies"(which is basically just a private christian school) an what not. but what im referring to is basically a specialized high school where you go to learn job skills as well as all of the basic subjects.so when you graduate you get a high school diploma in addition to a work force certification in whatever your area of study was (culinary arts,graphic design,that sort of thing)

there are*

OH GOSH - THAT IS INTERESTING, YO. LIKE IT WOULD NEVER OCCUR TO ME TO ASSOCIATE 'ACADEMY' WITH LEARNING JOB SKILLS. LIKE, THE MEANING OF ACADEMY - AND ACADEMIC - IS TOTALLY THE OPPOSITE! TRADITIONALLY IN THE UK, COLLEGES AND UNIS THAT FOCUS ON JOB SKILLS WERE SEEN AS INFERIOR TO THOSE THAT FOCUS ON ACADEMIC SKILLS (THE WHOLE 'POLYTECHNIC' VERSUS 'UNIVERSITY' DIVIDE) BUT THINGS ARE CHANGING NOW, YO. ALL OUR POLYS HAD THEIR STATUS CHANGED TO 'UNIVERSITY'. AND INTERESTINGLY, HERE, TRADITIONALLY THE COLLEGES FOCUSING ON JOB SKILLS HAVE BEEN THE MOST FLEXIBLE IN ALLOWING IN STUDENTS WITHOUT GOOD GRADES OR TRADITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS. GOSH, YOU SHOULD MOVE TO THE UK, YO!

lol. i suppose Americans are weird in how we label things.
and yes.i really should move to the UK!
perhaps i shall..since you guys seem to be more welcoming

an o i just realized i feel so very special that im sitting here having a conversation with the bloop legend herself ^_^

YES, YO! YOU ARE SO HIGHLY HONOURED. YOU SHOULD TOTALLY PRINT OFF COPIES OF OUR LEGENDARY CONVO SO THAT YOU CAN AUCTION THEM ON EBAY! ;D

Don't move here! It's crap! Or we could swap ;D

Oh and like we're totally not welcoming. Not as bad as the French I suppose, but if you ever travel to the south east I found everybody very rude and couldn't wait to go back north haha!

lol. meh.