High School Dropouts from Class of 2009 Represent Nearly $335 Billion in Lost Income | Alliance for Excellent Education

Washington, DC – If the high school students who dropped out of the Class of 2009 had graduated, the nation’s economy would have benefited from nearly $335 billion in additional income over the course of their lifetimes, according to a new issue brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education.

“As these findings show, the best economic stimulus is a high school diploma,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. “Given the state of high schools in the United States, it is imperative that the nation focus attention on students most at risk of dropping out if it is to achieve long-term economic stability. In an Information Age economy, education is the main currency.”

Not only do high school dropouts earn less when they are employed, they are much more likely to be unemployed during the current economic recession, the brief finds. In July 2009, the unemployment rate for high school dropouts was 15.4 percent, compared to 9.4 percent for high school graduates, 7.9 percent for individuals with some college credits or an associate’s degree, and 4.7 percent for individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

According to the brief, The High Cost of High School Dropouts: What the Nation Pays for Inadequate High Schools, the average annual income for a high school dropout in 2005 was $17,299, compared to $26,933 for a high school graduate, a difference of $9,634. The impact on the country’s economy is less visible, but, as the brief demonstrates, cumulatively its effect is staggering.