South Carolina faces a potentially troublesome future with the rate of high school dropouts in the state. The implications of this trend not only influence the immediate earning potential of a dropout, but reach far into the future with implications for public welfare.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown that high school dropouts earn an average under $20,000 annually (female dropouts age 25-34 earn less than $15,000) compared to their high school graduate counterparts who earn $28,800. The average annual income for an adult with a bachelor’s degree jumps to $46,300. Over the course of a thirty year working career, a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree will earn almost $750,000 (with no adjustments for inflation) more than a high school dropout. Read the rest of this entry »
