-  Forty-two million adult Americans can't read.

-  Fifty million adult Americans are limited to a 4th  or 5th grade reading level or can only recognize a  few printed words.

-  The number of illiterate adults is increasing by  2.25 million people each year.

-  The number of illiterate adults includes nearly 1  million young people who drop out of school  before graduation - 400,000 legal immigrants - 100,000 refugees - 800,000 illegal immigrants - and 20% of all high school graduates.

-  Illiterate people are missing out on 237 billion  dollars total each year in money that they could  be earning if they knew how to read.

-  The total amount of money being spent on illiteracy by the federal government is at more  than ten billion dollars each year, which grows steadily.