Maryland?s economy could have gained $5.6 billion in wages, taxes and productivity if all the students who began high school in 2004 graduated with their class in 2008, a research organization reported Monday.
“Lower local, state and national tax revenues are perhaps the most obvious consequence of higher dropout rates,” according to the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington-based policy, research and advocacy organization.
“Even when dropouts are employed, they earn significantly lower wages than graduates.”
The average annual income for a high school dropout in 2005 was $17,299, compared with $26,933 for a high school graduate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“It could be significant because it?s a loss of human capital,” said Tim Sullivan, chairman of the Economics Department at Towson University.
“But by graduating, there?s a gain to individuals and to society.”
Graduates not only earn more money, but also place less strain on social programs and are less likely to be teen parents, commit crimes or rely on government assistance, the organization concluded.
Sullivan compared the loss of graduates with only partially building a bridge, in that money spent educating these dropouts is almost wasted because the bridge is incomplete.
Area schools uses a variety of techniques to keep students in school.
Anne Arundel, for instance, uses twilight schools, which are after-school classes where students who have failed regular classes can get credit without wasting a semester, said schools spokesman Bob Mosier.
In Harford County, a similar alternative-education program has helped 45 students this past year get more structured, one-on-one attention.
“These programs can be for anyone,” said schools spokesman Don Morrison, “from someone having difficulty in a larger setting to those who?ve beensuspended and on their last chance.”
The estimate in lost economic gain for the entire country is
about $319 billion. All economic estimates are for the students? lifetimes.
The estimated graduation rate in Maryland for 2004-05 was 73.6 percent, translating into 21,490 projected nongraduates for the class of 2008, according to the organization?s data.
To arrive at the overall economic impact number, the projection was multiplied by $260,000, the estimated lifetime earnings difference between a high school dropout and a high school graduate.
