Alabama Literacy Facts

 

1 of every 4 Alabama residents is functionally illiterate, meaning they lack the basic reading, writing, and computational skills to function in modern society. That is 25% or over 1 million people in Alabama that need our help.

 

• 23% of residents in Tuscaloosa County are functionally illiterate as are over 40% of residents in some surrounding counties.

 

• 75% of small business owners in Alabama report that many applicants for job openings do not have basic reading, writing and math skills.

 

• 70% of Alabama’s inmates are functionally illiterate. One inmate costs the state $20,000 to house per year, but it only costs $4,800 per year to give someone a high-quality education.

 

• More than 30% of children drop out of school in the region. 22.6% of those age 25 years or older, don’t have a high school degree. That number is being fed annually by youth dropping out of high school.

 

• 70% of incoming freshmen in the region’s two community colleges need remedial reading and math.

 

• The 39.7% birth rate to mothers between the ages of 10 and 19 is a factor in low literacy for both the child and parent.

 

Sources: LITE, The Literacy Council of Central Alabama, National Center for Family Literacy, ProLiteracy, U.S. Department of Education