Homeless students in Georgia, like those across the country, are far less likely to graduate than their peers.
Students experiencing homelessness were 87 percent more likely than stably housed students to drop out, according to one recent study.
America’s Promise Alliance, a nonprofit working to help young people reach their potential, pulled together a report on student homelessness and released some statistics June 12.
Students who experience homelessness are more likely than their non-homeless peers to be held back from grade to grade, have poor attendance or be chronically absent from school, fail courses, have more disciplinary issues, and drop out. These negative effects are amplified the longer a student remains homeless.
Students who experience homelessness are disproportionately minorities, and LGBT students are heavily overrepresented.
The numbers the organization pulled from the National Center for Education Statistics (2014-15 school year) say that 37,791 Georgia students had experienced periods of homelessness (2.1 percent of Georgia students.)
About 960 students who filled out the FAFSA (a federal form filled out by students intending to go to college) were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
About 72 percent of homeless students had stayed with someone else while they didn’t have a home.
The National Center on Family Homelessness reports that 75 percent of homeless elementary school students performed below grade level in reading and math. That number rose to 85 percent for high school students.
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