Key Stats

High School Graduation Makes a Difference. 

• We know that for every 100 North Carolina students in ninth grade, 60 will complete high school four years later, 41 will enroll in college, and only 19 will receive an associate's degree within three years or a bachelor's degree within six years. In 1970, the average college graduate earned around 45 percent more money than a high school graduate. Today, college graduates earn 84 percent more.  ii

• We know that each high school dropout is eight times more likely to be in prison than a person with at least a high school diploma. In March 2008, 63 percent of N.C. Department of Correction inmates were high school dropouts and cost the state $635 million that year. iii

The U.S. Is in an Economic Race. 

• We know that in 1995, the United States was #1 in the world for college graduation rates. Ten years later, it ranked 15th.  In addition, U.S. students ranked 25th in math and 21st in science out of 30 developed countries. iv
  
  
• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce gives most states a C, D, or F in preparing students for the workplace. vi

Leadership Matters.

• We know that as many as 50 percent of teachers in the U.S. leave the profession within their first five years. Yet, students of high-performing teachers progress three times as fast as those with low-performing teachers. vi

ii From the Public School Forum of North Carolina.
iii From The Chronicle of Higher Education.
iv From Communities in Schools.
v From “Where We Stand: America’s Schools in the 21st Century,” WLIW New York.
vi From U.S. Chamber of Commerce.