CNN 2010-01-19

AZUZ: In Washington, D.C., a commission set up by Congress is investigating the U.S. financial crisis. They're looking into what caused it and hopefully how to avoid another one in the future. As part of that investigation 1, the commission has been talking with some government officials. And yesterday, it met with the chief executives of four of the country's biggest banks. The head of the commission said he wanted to hear the bankers talk about their companies' roles in causing the crisis. The executives acknowledged that their banks had made mistakes, but said they didn't realize how bad those mistakes were at the time.

Shoutout

MATT CHERRY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! What percent of American students earn their high school diploma? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) 50 percent, B) 70 percent, C) 85 percent or D) 95 percent? You've got three seconds -- GO! Only 70 percent of students earn their high school diplomas. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Dropout 2 Ripple 3 Effect

AZUZ: Okay, that number may surprise you. Another thing you might not realize is that getting your high school diploma can help many more people than just you. A new study looked at how communities would've benefited if more people stayed in school. Take a look at what it found out.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

AZUZ: Soaring unemployment, states trying to avoid running out of money: Could students dropping out of high school actually make this worse? Absolutely, says the Alliance for Excellent Education. The group's been analyzing 4 the effects that dropouts have, not only on themselves, but on the places where they live, and they found that just getting a high school diploma can dramatically affect communities.

Here's how the study worked: An estimated 600,000 students dropped out of the class of 2008. The Alliance figured out how the country could've benefited if just half of them, 300,000, had gotten their diplomas. It estimated they would've earned a combined $4.1 billion more money in an average year. Then, they could've spent $2.8 billion more and invested more than $1 billion more.

So what? Well, all that additional spending could've supported 30,000 more jobs; you know we could use them now. And down the road, these hypothetical graduates could've bought homes valued at $10.5 billion more than what they'd have spent without diplomas. And they'd probably have the money to spend $340 million more on cars. With the taxes that come with all that spending, the Alliance estimates that states and communities would be pulling in an extra $536 million a year. And the point? To show how getting a diploma doesn't just help students, it helps the...