Billions go to community college students who drop out

News release: Nearly $4 billion was spent by federal, state and local governments over five years on full-time community college students who dropped out after their first year without completing their certificate or degree programs, according to an analysis by the American Institutes for Research. About a fifth of full-time students who enroll at a community college do not return for a second year. The full report – The Hidden Costs of Community Colleges – says that in the 2008-09 academic year, the most recent year for which data are available, nearly $1 billion of taxpayer money was spent on first-year, full-time students who dropped out, about 35 percent more than five years earlier.