Disadvantages of large classes -- including the most-discussed liability, dropouts turning to crime -- are so obvious as to scarcely need mention, but it's worth noting that the argument that creates large classes, lack of funds and resources, is largely answerable. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University calculated the average cost of reducing classes as opposed to allowing dropout and crime rates to remain intact. New schools cost thousands; prisons and halfway houses to hold dropouts-turned-criminals cost millions. You can educate a student for $7,000 annually, while it takes $24,000 to house one inmate for a year.