Research.com: Completion of secondary education is often cited as a key developmental milestone, although not all pupils follow this route. Dropping out of high school is a choice made by some students, whether owing to financial difficulties or academic difficulties. But there are also some who gamble on becoming successful dropouts by following their interests as teenagers. However, the benefits of doing so may not be as obvious as first seem.
Levin and Belfied (2017), as cited by the National Center of Education Statistics (2020), revealed that each high school dropout cost the United States economy $272,000 due to “lower tax contributions, higher reliance on Medicaid and Medicare, higher rates of criminal activity, and higher reliance on welfare.” The good news is that the status dropout rate or the percentage of all 16 to 24 years old who are not enrolled in school and have not received a high school diploma has decreased by 3.2% between 2010 and 2019. It is now at an all-time low at 5.1%. Still, dropout rates continue to be a problem because yet again U.S. schools are in fear of a dropout surge due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This article will tackle relevant data on the current high school dropout rate and why it remains high in the United States. It will also discuss the causes, effects, and possible solutions to this concern.
High School Dropout Rate Table of Contents
- Key High School Dropout Rate Statistics
- Reasons Why High Schoolers Drop Out
- Consequences of Dropping Out of High School
- Dropout Prevention Resources for Families and Educators
Continue reading at Research.com.
Author: by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
Chief Data Scientist & Head of Content