The Societal Benefits and Costs of School Dropout Recovery

Table 1

Average societal (USA) benefits or cost reductions per student attributable to graduating versus not-graduating from high school, by benefit or cost domain (1).

Domain	Gain/saving
Extra lifetime tax payment contribution	$139,100
Decreased dependence on public health expenditures	$40,500
Reduced criminal activity	$26,600
Reduced dependence on welfare	$3,000
Average total individual benefit from preventing or recovering school dropouts:	$209,200(a)

(1) Source: Levin et al. [1, Pages 9–17]. Levin reports these rounded subtotals, but a grand total of $209,100 when summing nonrounded estimates.