The American Institutes for Research (AIR) published a report in
August this year taking a look at the economic impact of college
dropouts. The AIR analysis estimated that the cost to the nation
from students who started college in fall of 2002, but failed to
graduate six years later amounted to $4.5 billion per year in
lost earnings and taxes to state and federal governments. The
breakdown is as follows: • $3.8 billion in lost income; • $566
million in lost federal income taxes; and • $164 million in lost
state income taxes. The infographic below is a cliff notes
version of the aforementioned AIR report, plus data from some
other sources such as CollegeMeasures.org. A couple of months
ago, we wrote about the United States could soon face a shortage
of 20 million college graduates by 2025 putting the country's
future at risk due to a low college graduation rate. However,
the reality is while quite a few sectors like technology and
energy are experiencing an increasing shortage of skilled
professionals, new co