Lower-income students are much more likely to drop out of school in 9th grade than those of middle- or high-income families, according to an analysis by the National Center for Education Statistics.
In 2009, researchers found, 4.9 percent of 9th graders in the bottom 20 percent of family income and 4.1 percent of those in the next income quintile dropped out of school. By contrast, only 2.5 percent of 9th graders in the middle 20 percent of income and six-tenths of a percent of those in the highest income bracket dropped out.
