Giving Support to CEI in Education
There are over 5,800 students attending the elementary schools in New Bedford. If current graduation and higher education achievement rates do not change, we can project the following:
• Only 68% of those students will graduate high school.
• Of those, only 47% will attend a four-year college.
• And only 16% of these children will graduate college.
• What does this mean to the community, in economic terms?
• The average high school dropout will earn $1.2 million over the course of his lifetime.
• The four-year college graduate will earn $2.1 million.
• Each advanced degree recipient will earn $3.4 million.
If just half of these New Bedford students were to graduate from a four year college, the impact on the New Bedford economy and community would be profound: 2,900 more people earning an extra $900,000 in lifetime income each year generates 2 billion, 610 million in additional economic activity for the region.
If 70% of these New Bedford students were to graduate from a four-year college, and 20% achieved an advanced degree (the rates at successful suburban schools), the impact on the New Bedford community would be even greater: 4,060 more people earning an additional $900,000 generates over $3 billion more in lifetime income. Another 1,160 more people adding an advanced degree would add additional $118 million in lifetime income for a total of nearly $137 billion.
With the “train the trainer” model used by CEI and a modest commitment of district funds, it will take $7 million to bring our program to all New Bedford elementary schools. Or, looked at another way, $1 million invested in the program will fund three schools. If three schools could increase the combined number of their college graduates by about 1,000 per class with commensurate graduate school attendance, the lifetime income of those children would increase by approximately $1 billion. Over 15 years, those three schools would see $15 billion in increased income. An investment of $1 million can become $15 billion, which will be returned to the community and the businesses in the area. Ask your Wall Street broker if they can do that!
CEI has currently partnered with four or those elementary schools. Our Annual Report contains teacher feedback of our program and student data from high stakes tests. There are improvements across the board on both of these indicators.
Please contact us to learn more about how you can be a part of helping us to build a better future in New Bedford, and around the country.
Katherine Gaudet
President and Founder of CEI
508-999-1356 ext. 1143
[email protected]
Center for Education Innovation at Friends Academy
1088 Tucker Road
North Dartmouth, MA 02747