In a new report on community college attrition, researchers from the American Institutes of Research estimated that, between 2004 and 2009, North Carolina taxpayers surrendered $150 million to first-year community college students that subsequently dropped out.

In total, almost $4 billion in federal, state, and local taxpayer monies in appropriations and student grants went to first-year, full-time, community college students who dropped out.

I suspect that many of these students were required to take remedial courses.  For more information on North Carolina’s community college remediation problem, check this out.