Drop Out Statistics

This year nearly five thousand Idaho’s students will drop out of Idaho schools before acquiring the skills and personal traits necessary to prepare them for a successful future.

By failing to graduate high-school or gain a GED these youth become subject to many alarming statistics.

• High school dropouts are 3.5 times more likely than graduates to be arrested, and eight times more likely to be incarcerated.
• 68 % of state prison inmates don’t have a high school diploma or GED.
• 53% of homeless mothers do not have a high school diploma.
• Each dropout, over his or her lifetime, costs the nation approximately $260,000 through increased incarceration and social welfare costs, and decreased tax revenue.
• High school dropouts, on average, earn $9,200 less per year than high school graduates, and about $1 million less over a lifetime than college graduates.
• Estimated Graduation Rate 2005 - 2006: 76.8%
• Projected Number of non-graduates 2009: 4,777