A $400,000 gift from AT&T to Auburn University aims to keep high school students from becoming dropouts.
The funds will support an initiative to reduce the drop-out rate in Alabama high schools which, according to the Southern Education Foundation, is about 40 percent.
The monetary benefits of a high school education aren’t always immediately realized.
According to the National Education Association, high school graduates earn more than $9,000 more a year than their counterparts without degrees, which can add up to as much as $260,000 during a lifetime.
The program involves a partnership between the Truman Pierce Institute in the school’s College of Education and five high schools in the Tallapoosa County, Opelika, Lee County, Hale County and Bullock County districts, according to AU Assistant Vice President of Development Gwen F. Reid.
Institute Director Cindy Reed and Jeffrey Brooks, both AU professors, will direct the program titled “Building Individual Capacity for Success.”
“Each school will have an adviser that works specifically with students in areas of service learning leadership training and action research,” said Reid.
When a student drops out, the negative effects extend well beyond the individual, Reid said.
“Dropping out of high school impacts future potential income, leads to higher poverty rates and higher rates of criminal activity,” Reid said.
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