Dear incoming college freshman,
Please, please stick it out and graduate. If you don’t, you’ll be costing me a fortune… literally.
Sincerely,
America
A new report released by the American Institutes for Research found that 40 percent of college students who begin their first year this fall will have failed to graduate within the next six years. That means massive losses on the part of taxpayers who shell out money for grants and other funding.
Researchers for “The High Cost of Low Graduation Rates: How Much Does Dropping Out of College Really Cost?” found losses of $566 million in federal income taxes just from the students who began school in 2002 and didn’t graduate:
Students who start college but do not graduate incur large personal expenses. They pay thousands of dollars in tuition, they likely take out loans, they change their lives, but they fail in one of the most important goals they have ever set for themselves. In the meantime, taxpayers pay billions of dollars in grants and state appropriations to support these students as they pursue degrees they will never earn.
In addition, students who don’t graduate also cause $3.8 billion in lost income and $164 million in lost state income taxes per year.
So you’re not just disappointing your parents if you don’t graduate– you’re disappointing the country.
Find more about graduating on EducationOption.
