Nationwide, the economic impact of 10th grade suspensions tops $35 billion, finds a new study by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies and the University of California, Los Angeles.
A 1 percentage-point drop in the 16 percent in-school and out-of-school sophomore suspension rate could save $691 million as estimated by the study, because of improvements in areas like earnings and taxes for affected students. It also could lead to a social benefit of $2.2 billion because of savings in such areas as welfare, criminal justice, and health care, the study finds.
Researchers used federal longitudinal data and prior research to calculate the likelihood a student would be suspended in 10th grade; how much suspensions at that age increase a student’s likelihood of dropping out; and how much it costs, directly and indirectly, when a student drops out of high school.
