Infographic: The Dropout Crisis in America

The U.S. faces a dropout crisis. At the current rate, nearly 1/5 of economically-disadvantaged students starting high school will not graduate–at a huge cost to themselves and society at large. buildOn works with students in many of the most challenged schools in the country. Our youth service programs empower students to better their communities and cultivate the resilience and leadership skills needed for academic and personal success. An incredible 98% of buildOn students graduate high school. Here’s why that’s so important:

buildOn is raising awareness of the dropout crisis and sharing stories about the communities where we work. We need your help to spread our message and end this crisis:

• Share this infographic with your friends, family, and colleagues.
• Follow buildOn on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok! Social media helps raise awareness of the education crisis and our work to end it.
• Once you’ve followed buildOn, share our messages with your friends and family to help raise awareness.
• Donate to support buildOn’s transformational work. Any amount helps to unite people through service and education to ignite a more equitable future.

Source Information:

• National Center for Education Statistics: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/coi/high-school-graduation-rates 
• US Career Institute: https://www.uscareerinstitute.edu/blog/where-are-the-highest-graduation-rates-in-the-us
• Penn Foster: https://partners.pennfoster.edu/blog/2024/april/impact-of-hs-dropout-rates 
• The Oaklandside: https://oaklandside.org/2023/02/06/oakland-schools-career-academic-pathways-parcel-tax
• Chicago Public Schools: https://www.cps.edu/sites/ara/district-overview/quality 
• Chalkbeat Detroit: https://www.chalkbeat.org/detroit/2025/02/21/michigan-high-school-graduation-dropout-rates 
• Connecticut Post: https://www.ctpost.com/news/education/slideshow/Graduation-rates-of-Fairfield-County-area-schools-202793.php 
• Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/05/14/metro/massachusetts-bps-high-school-graduation-decline
• Literacy Mid-South: https://www.literacymidsouth.org/news/the-relationship-between-incarceration-and-low-literacy 
• Elevate USA: https://elevatetheusa.org/the-need 
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm 
• Graduation Alliance: https://www.graduationalliance.com/