Report: 1 in 5 youg men drop out

BOSTON, May 5 (UPI) -- Almost 20 percent of young men age 16 to 24 in the United States have dropped out of high school, a report released Tuesday said.

The Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston produced "Left Behind: The Nation's Dropout Crisis" working with the Chicago Alternative Schools Network.

Researchers said that in 2007 there were 6.2 million high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 24 in the United States, 16 percent of the group. More than 60 percent were men, almost 19 percent black and more than 30 percent Hispanic.

The dropout rate for whites was 12.2 percent, compared with 27.5 percent for Hispanics and 21 percent of blacks.

Looking at the 12 largest states, researchers also found marked regional differences. The highest drop-out rate, 22.1 percent in Georgia, was more than twice the lowest one, 10.8 percent in New Jersey.

A number of cities have programs that have been successful in getting young people back into school, the study said.

"These programs have found that young people who have left high school before earning a diploma are not dead-end dropouts, but often are in fact students waiting and looking for opportunities to re-enroll and finish high school," the report said.