If you’re thinking about dropping out of college, think about whose money you’re wasting. You could be wasting your own hard earned cash or your parents’, but I bet you never considered how dropping out of college wastes taxpayers’ money.

According to a study released on Monday, states have spent almost $6.2 billion on students who did not come back for their sophomore year. Additionally, states spent $1.4 billion, and the federal government spent $1.5 billion in grants for students who didn’t come back the following year.

The study, “Finishing the First Lap: The Cost of First-Year Student Attrition in America’s Four-Year Colleges and Universities” acquired data from four-year colleges and universities between 2003 and 2008. The dollar amounts for the study were based on government data and configured by the nonprofit American Institutes for Research. Read the rest of this entry »