Grad rate costs area $500 million a year in income

Southeast Missouri's economy is losing millions of dollars in income because of low high school graduation rates in many of the region's counties, says a university economist who has studied the issue.

The region's total income is about $500 million a year less than it would be if the percentage of residents with high school degrees matched the statewide figure, said Dr. Bruce Domazlicky, director of the Center for Economic and Business Research at Southeast Missouri State University.

Domazlicky said faculty in Southeast's economics and finance department estimated the lost income by making use of 2000 Census data.

Statewide, 81.4 percent of Missourians 25 years of age and older have completed high school, census records show. In the 24-county area of Southeast Missouri, 73 percent have finished high school, Domazlicky said.