In 1970, the U.S. had the highest rate of school and college graduation in the world. 50 years later, we’ve dropped to No. 21 in high school completion and No. 15 in college completion as the quality of our primary and secondary education falls in comparison to the rest of the world. 

Just as importantly, a decade after No Child Left Behind mandated efforts to reduce the racial gap in our educational system, White and Asian students have a high school graduation rate of 80% compared to only 55% for their Black and Hispanic counterparts. 

Dropout prevention efforts sound expensive, but the reality is that we can’t afford to ignore these solutions. 

“When the cost of investment to produce a new graduate are taken into account, there is a return of $1.45 to $3.55 for every dollar of investment, depending upon the education intervention strategy.”

Read more about the true cost of high school dropouts here.