High school dropouts adversely impact the state of Tennessee each year--financially and socially. Dropouts' lower incomes, high unemployment rates, increased need for medical care, and higher propensity for incarceration create a virtual vortex that consumes Tennesseans' tax dollars at a vicious rate. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on these high school dropouts every year. This study examines those costs across three major state funding mechanisms: state tax collections, Medicaid funds, and the costs of incarceration. All three aspects compose substantial parts of Tennessee's operating budget. In 2009, for example, TennCare--the state's Medicaid program--accounted for $1.6 billion of Tennessee's $4.28 billion in economic stimulus funding. (Contains 17 tables, 5 figures and 36 notes.)