Even though the Alabama Department of Education Web site continues to show a projected four-year dropout rate of only 9.76 percent, reliable sources report our dropout rate is almost 39 percent. In other words, (after controlling for transfers in and out of the system and for deaths) only 61 of every 100 students who enter the ninth grade in Alabama will graduate from high school on time. Alliance for Excellent Education translated this to real numbers -- nearly 25,000 students did not graduate from Alabama high schools in 2008. The economic ramifications for these students personally and for the state are sobering. In terms of lifetime earnings, these 25,000 dropouts will forego nearly $6.5 billion and will add $245 million to Alabama's health care costs burden. To get a better idea of the severity of the problem in Alabama, you can find the latest graduation rate data for Alabama high schools in a report published by Alliance for Excellent Education. The Promoting Power database, which shows the dropout rates for Alabama high schools, is available at: http://www.all4ed.org/about_the_crisis/promotingpower.