Cost of High School Dropouts Draining US Taxpayer

[The Dude]

Cost of High School Dropouts Draining US Taxpayer
High school dropouts on average receive $1,500 a year more from government than they pay in taxes because they are more likely to get benefits or to be in prison, according to a U.S. study released on Wednesday.

"Dropping out of high school before receiving a high school diploma places a substantial fiscal burden on the rest of society," wrote Andrew Sum of Northeastern University, an author of a study of Illinois and Chicago residents done on behalf of the Chicago Urban League and some education groups.

The findings, based on U.S. Census Bureau data from 2009-2010, illustrate the cost advantage of programs that persuade dropouts to re-enroll in school instead of becoming a financial drain on society, the study's sponsors said.

The cost of getting a high school dropout back to school and through to graduation is $13,000 a year, or roughly $33,000 total, said Jack Wuest of the Alternative Schools Network, one of the study's sponsors.

And yet over a dropout's entire working life, he or she receives $71,000 more on average in cash and in-kind benefits than paid in taxes. The societal costs may include imprisonment, government-paid medical insurance and food stamps.

In contrast, high school graduates pay $236,000 more in taxes than they receive in benefits, and college degree holders pay $885,000 more in taxes than they receive.

Lifetime earnings of dropouts totaled $595,000, the study found, compared to $1,066,000 earned by high school graduates and $1,509,000 by those with a two-year junior college degree.

In Illinois, the fifth-most-populous U.S. state with nearly 13 million residents, 11.5 percent of adults aged 19 to 24 left school without earning a high school diploma, and 15 percent in that age group dropped out in Chicago.

The highest dropout rates were among black and Hispanic men, at up to 30 percent.

High school dropouts accounted for 51 percent of Illinois' prison population, the study found.

The cost of housing an inmate is $22,000 annually, and adds up to more than $1 billion a year for the 46,000 prisoners being held in the state, according to state statistics.

Among men aged 18 to 34, 15 percent of the dropouts were in prison, an incarceration rate that was five times higher than high school graduates'.

[Rana]

Cost of High School Dropouts Draining US Taxpayer
High school dropouts on average receive $1,500 a year more from government than they pay in taxes because they are more likely to get benefits or to be in prison, according to a U.S. study released on Wednesday.

"Dropping out of high school before receiving a high school diploma places a substantial fiscal burden on the rest of society," wrote Andrew Sum of Northeastern University, an author of a study of Illinois and Chicago residents done on behalf of the Chicago Urban League and some education groups.

The findings, based on U.S. Census Bureau data from 2009-2010, illustrate the cost advantage of programs that persuade dropouts to re-enroll in school instead of becoming a financial drain on society, the study's sponsors said.

The cost of getting a high school dropout back to school and through to graduation is $13,000 a year, or roughly $33,000 total, said Jack Wuest of the Alternative Schools Network, one of the study's sponsors.

And yet over a dropout's entire working life, he or she receives $71,000 more on average in cash and in-kind benefits than paid in taxes. The societal costs may include imprisonment, government-paid medical insurance and food stamps.

In contrast, high school graduates pay $236,000 more in taxes than they receive in benefits, and college degree holders pay $885,000 more in taxes than they receive.

Lifetime earnings of dropouts totaled $595,000, the study found, compared to $1,066,000 earned by high school graduates and $1,509,000 by those with a two-year junior college degree.

In Illinois, the fifth-most-populous U.S. state with nearly 13 million residents, 11.5 percent of adults aged 19 to 24 left school without earning a high school diploma, and 15 percent in that age group dropped out in Chicago.

The highest dropout rates were among black and Hispanic men, at up to 30 percent.

High school dropouts accounted for 51 percent of Illinois' prison population, the study found.

The cost of housing an inmate is $22,000 annually, and adds up to more than $1 billion a year for the 46,000 prisoners being held in the state, according to state statistics.

Among men aged 18 to 34, 15 percent of the dropouts were in prison, an incarceration rate that was five times higher than high school graduates'.

Goodness, those are some startling facts. I had no idea the rate in prison was so high, but crime probably pays more than the jobs they can get with no hs diploma. I wonder if there are any Ross Perots these days?

[The Dude]

Half mill for a community college 2 yr is awesome.

[sedan]

Maybe imprisoning people for non-violent drug offenses is a wasteful, counter-productive and all-around stupid thing to do.

[SmarterthanYou]

or enforcing prohibition on a plant that grows in ditches could be ruled unconstitutional on it's face, thereby easing alot of overcrowding in prisons.

[Alias]

or enforcing prohibition on a plant that grows in ditches could be ruled unconstitutional on it's face, thereby easing alot of overcrowding in prisons.

Leave people alone who grow their own for their own use. That will save the govt tons of money for needful things.

[leaningright]

Was at a seminar the other day and the lady presenting it said that every 11 seconds a student decides to drop out of high school. She also said that of those drop-outs, 80% say that they dropped out because they could not fulfil the math requirements. How true that is I don't know but it is what she started her spill with. That's bad.

[Superfreak]

Was at a seminar the other day and the lady presenting it said that every 11 seconds a student decides to drop out of high school. She also said that of those drop-outs, 80% say that they dropped out because they could not fulfil the math requirements. How true that is I don't know but it is what she started her spill with. That's bad.

Public education at its finest.

[The Dude]

Shitty parenting at its finest. Makes me wanna teach math in high school.

[Threedee]

I do think parenting is the largest extent of the problem. Teaching today has become a major exercise in babysitting - if you can effectively manage the class, then you can possibly focus on growing your content knowledge and passing it on through lessons. That's one reason why so many teachers burn out early.

Since the modern education system insists that education should be inclusive for everyone (and I don't just mean diversity and special education inclusion), as opposed to what it views as an elitist and highly exlusive past, the public schools are filled with major problems who make meaningful education impossible. You either have to be fortunate enough to live in a nice school district where good parenting is going to be present, or go to a private school. The best that schools have been left to do with is gear their education plans toward the modern jobs market, which is asking for creative thinking skills as opposed to traditional rote memorization, and so forth.

[The Dude]

I went to catholic school. The nuns would tear you a new one if you got out of line. Switch to public after 5 years and they had to sit me in the back with the next grade book the first year.