Freshman dropouts from Arizona's three public universities cost Arizona taxpayers more than $50 million in 2008, according to the American Institutes for Research.
The University of Arizona spent $19.6 million in 2008 to educate first-year students who did not begin a second year, according to the Institute's report. Arizona State University spent $26 million and Northern Arizona University spent $11.7 million.
About 78 percent of freshmen in the Arizona university system continue on to their second year. The Arizona Board of Regents has set a goal for the universities to improve that figure to 83 percent by 2020.
— Becky Pallack