Reducing the dropout rate of Mississippi's public education system from its national high of 42 percent of all students in any potential graduating class to the national average of 10 percent of the class cohort would result in substantial economic benefits to the state far outweighing the related costs, according to this analysis of relevant statistics. Assuming that students who dropped out of school had instead graduated and then obtained employment at pay rates equivalent to those of actual high school graduates, the research uses census and school statistics to develop a very conservative estimate that reducing the dropout rate could eventually increase state revenues by $225 million or more each year. Tables detail dropout rates, relative earning power at different educational levels for individuals and for student cohorts, potential productivity rates at different dropout levels, and potential tax revenue increases. (PGD)