Demography as Destiny: How America Can Build a Better Future

Alliance for Excellent Education
Alliance for Excellent Education
Barely 50% of minority students graduate from high school on time. If this trend continues and the minority student populations increase as projected, the economic strength of the U.S. will be undermined. But if 78% of all student populations graduate on time by 2020, the U.S. can realize stunning potential benefits: conservatively, more than $310 billion would be added to the national economy.

The gap that exists between white and minority students in the United States is a byproduct of both economic disparity and inequity. Lack of resources and fewer qualified teachers are just two factors that contribute to the problem. Currently, only about 70% of all American high school students graduate in the expected four years, but the figures are even bleaker for minority populations. As minority populations become larger as a percentage of the population, and if their low graduation rates remain the same, the national graduation rate will soon begin to fall as a growing number of minority students are left behind.

Source
http://www.all4ed.org/files/demography.pdf