Education gap costs U.S. up to $2.3 trillion

A persistent gap in academic achievement between children in the United States and their counterparts in other countries deprived the U.S. economy of as much as $2.3 trillion in economic output in 2008, McKinsey research finds.

Each of the longstanding achievement gaps among U.S. students of differing ethnic origins, income levels and school systems represents hundreds of billions of dollars in unrealized economic gains. Together, these disturbing gaps underscore the staggering economic and social cost of underutilized human potential.