The Economic Benefits of Reducing High School Dropout Rates in America's Fifty Largest Cities Alliance for Excellent Education
The Economic Benefits of Reducing High School Dropout Rates in America's Fifty Largest Cities
In the nation's fifty largest cities and their surrounding areas, nearly 600,000 students dropped out from the Class of 2008. These students dropped out at a great cost to themselves, but also to their communities, including the businesses they would have used and the state and local governments to which they would have paid taxes.
Thanks to the model that the Alliance for Excellent Education has developed with the generous support of State Farm® and in partnership with Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc., it can now project how reducing the number of dropouts in half, for just this single high school class, will result in tremendous economic benefits for the business community in those areas and their state and local governments.
This is game-changing research. For the first time ever, the Alliance can demonstrate in dollar terms how every business, every taxpayer and every community benefits when the dropout rate is reduced. It is also able to show that without a doubt, the student is not the only one who benefits from increased educational attainment.
The initial findings from the model answer these and other economic questions for the cities listed below:
How much in additional wages would each metro area benefit from if it reduced the number of high school students who fail to graduate with their class by 50 percent?
What percentage of these new graduates would continue their education after high school? What percentage would earn bachelor's degrees?
How much will annual state and local property, income, and sales tax revenue grow as a result of these new graduates' higher incomes?
To view the combined economic benefits for all fifty cities, read the national analysis.
To view a report for a particular city, please click on it in the list below.
Albuquerque, NM
Memphis, TN
Atlanta, GA
Miami, FL
Austin, TX
Milwaukee, WI
Baltimore, MD
Minneapolis, MN
Boston, MA
Nashville, TN
Charlotte, NC
New York City, NY
Chicago, IL
Oklahoma City, OK
Cleveland, OH
Omaha, NE
Colorado Springs, CO
Philadelphia, PA
Columbus, OH
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington, TX
Portland, OR
Denver, CO
Sacramento, CA
Detroit, MI
San Antonio, TX
El Paso, TX
San Diego, CA
Fresno, CA
San Francisco-Oakland, CA
Honolulu, HI
San Jose, CA
Houston, TX
Seattle, WA
Indianapolis, IN
Tucson, AZ
Jacksonville, FL
Tulsa, OK
Kansas City, MO
Virginia Beach, VA
Las Vegas, NV
Washington, DC
Los Angeles - Long Beach, CA
Wichita, KS
Louisville, KY
National Analysis
Additional Documents
Press Release: Read the national press release from the Alliance for Excellent Education, which includes quotes from Bob Wise, president of the Alliance and former governor of West Virginia, and Ed Rust, Chairman and CEO of State Farm®.
Frequently Asked Questions: The Alliance for Excellent Education has prepared a list of frequently asked questions about the cities included in the analysis, more information about the economic model, and future calculations the Alliance will release from the model, among others.
Technical Notes: The technical notes document includes a more sophisticated explanation of how the model was constructed and how specific calculations were performed.
The Economic Benefits of Reducing High School Dropout Rates in America's Fifty Largest Cities
In the nation's fifty largest cities and their surrounding areas, nearly 600,000 students dropped out from the Class of 2008. These students dropped out at a great cost to themselves, but also to their communities, including the businesses they would have used and the state and local governments to which they would have paid taxes.
Thanks to the model that the Alliance for Excellent Education has developed with the generous support of State Farm® and in partnership with Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc., it can now project how reducing the number of dropouts in half, for just this single high school class, will result in tremendous economic benefits for the business community in those areas and their state and local governments.
This is game-changing research. For the first time ever, the Alliance can demonstrate in dollar terms how every business, every taxpayer and every community benefits when the dropout rate is reduced. It is also able to show that without a doubt, the student is not the only one who benefits from increased educational attainment.
The initial findings from the model answer these and other economic questions for the cities listed below:
How much in additional wages would each metro area benefit from if it reduced the number of high school students who fail to graduate with their class by 50 percent?
What percentage of these new graduates would continue their education after high school? What percentage would earn bachelor's degrees?
How much will annual state and local property, income, and sales tax revenue grow as a result of these new graduates' higher incomes?
To view the combined economic benefits for all fifty cities, read the national analysis.
To view a report for a particular city, please click on it in the list below.
Albuquerque, NM
Memphis, TN
Atlanta, GA
Miami, FL
Austin, TX
Milwaukee, WI
Baltimore, MD
Minneapolis, MN
Boston, MA
Nashville, TN
Charlotte, NC
New York City, NY
Chicago, IL
Oklahoma City, OK
Cleveland, OH
Omaha, NE
Colorado Springs, CO
Philadelphia, PA
Columbus, OH
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington, TX
Portland, OR
Denver, CO
Sacramento, CA
Detroit, MI
San Antonio, TX
El Paso, TX
San Diego, CA
Fresno, CA
San Francisco-Oakland, CA
Honolulu, HI
San Jose, CA
Houston, TX
Seattle, WA
Indianapolis, IN
Tucson, AZ
Jacksonville, FL
Tulsa, OK
Kansas City, MO
Virginia Beach, VA
Las Vegas, NV
Washington, DC
Los Angeles - Long Beach, CA
Wichita, KS
Louisville, KY
National Analysis
Additional Documents
Press Release: Read the national press release from the Alliance for Excellent Education, which includes quotes from Bob Wise, president of the Alliance and former governor of West Virginia, and Ed Rust, Chairman and CEO of State Farm®.
Frequently Asked Questions: The Alliance for Excellent Education has prepared a list of frequently asked questions about the cities included in the analysis, more information about the economic model, and future calculations the Alliance will release from the model, among others.
Technical Notes: The technical notes document includes a more sophisticated explanation of how the model was constructed and how specific calculations were performed.
