Students dropping out of high school is a major problem throughout the United States. The reason it's such a big problem is that students who don't graduate are much worse off than those who do graduate from high school. Some of the things that hurt most high school dropouts are that they make less money, are more likely to be unhappy and unhealthy in life, are less likely to get married, and are more likely to end up in prison than students who graduate. High school. (Messacaro np). Some proposed solutions to solve this problem are to increase the legal age for dropping out of school from sixteen to eighteen, states should invest more in developing support programs for those at risk of dropping out, minimize the costs of impressing “compulsory education policies”( Messacar np), and using all these solutions to help the national education system grow and help students want to attend university and help students want to improve themselves and the own career. Furthermore, by finding a solution and minimizing the problem of high school dropout, the economy and well-being of people throughout the United States will increase dramatically. The consequences of students dropping out of school are surprisingly unknown to many people in the United States. States. Nearly a third of public high school students, and nearly half of African Americans, fail to graduate each year (Brideland np). John M. Bridgeland author of the article “The High School Dropout Problem” stated that “most students who dropped out could have been successful in school” (Bridgeland np). It is scary to think that if these students had been given the help they needed; their lives would turn out to be very d...... halfway ...... ying and getting their high school diploma. Works Cited Bridgeland, John M., Jr., John J. Dilulio, and Robert Balfanz. “The problem of school dropouts”. Education Digest 75.3 (2009): 20-26. Premier of academic research. Network. October 21, 2013.Christle, Christine A.Jolivette, KristineNelson, C. Michael. “School Characteristics Related to High School Dropout Rates.” Correctional and Special Education 28.6 (2007): 325-339. Collection of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences. Network. October 21, 2013. Messacar, Derek and Philip Oreopoulos. “Staying in School: A Proposal to Increase the High School Graduation Rate.” Issues in Science and Technology 29.2 (2013): 55-61. Premier of academic research. Network. October 21, 2013. Xitao Fan, et al. “Perceived prevalence of teasing and bullying predicts high school dropout rates.” Journal Of Educational Psychology 105.1 (2013): 138-149.PsycARTICLES. Network. October 21st. 2013.