Educational Attainment Trends
General
Minnesota Measures 2008, Minnesota Office of Higher Education
Among states, Minnesota ranks favorably on several key educational measures such as high school graduation rates and the percentage of the state's citizens who possess college degrees.... While Minnesota excels in some areas, more often it performs at or near the national average on indicators important to the state's educational and economic vitality.Education and Economic Competitiveness (September 24, 2007) Speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
"Here at the U.S. Chamber Education and Workforce Summit, I don’t really need to convince you that, as an investment, education provides excellent returns, both for individuals and for society. As executives accustomed to making hard cost-benefit decisions, you doubtless assign a high priority to the quality of your business’s workforce because you know that a key — perhaps the key — to your success is the capabilities of the people you employ. To a significant extent, those capabilities are the product of education."Measuring Up 2006 (2006), The National Center For Public Policy and Higher Education
Minnesota compares well with most states in preparing students for and enrolling them in college. However, the proportion of high school students graduating within four years has declined since the early 1990s. Of those students who do graduate, more now enroll in college directly after high school. Over the same period, colleges and universities in Minnesota have become less affordable for students and their families. If the state’s downward trends are not addressed, they could limit its access to a competitive workforce and weaken its economy over time.Educational Attainment of Minnesotans
Educational Attainment in the United States: 2006 (2007), U.S. Census Bureau
Minnesota had one of the highest proportions of the population 25 years of age or older with at least a high school diploma, 93 percent. However, only 64 percent of Hispanic citizens have at least a high school diploma.Economic & Demographic Change in Big 10 States PDF 335 KB, (April 2006), Tom Gillaspy and Tom Stinson, Minnesota State Demographic Center
Traditional College Age Population [in Big 10 states] Is Growing Now, But Will Soon Slow, DeclineAs America Becomes More Diverse (2005), Patrick J. Kelly, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS)
For many states, raising educational attainment levels depends upon their ability to address the education needs of particular race/ethnic populations. This is especially true in states where the populations with the lowest current levels of educational attainment are also those that are growing at the fastest rates. The attainment of college-level degrees among adults has increased in all states over the past two decades. However, considerable disparities in college attainment among certain race/ethnic groups of the population persist—and in most states these gaps are widening…The majority of the growth (in numbers) will occur among the populations that are the least educated.Global Trends
Education at a Glance (2006), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The United States had the highest tertiary education attainment in the period 35 to 45 years ago, just ahead of Canada with 35%. No other country was above 27%. The United States’ rate of 39% for 25-34 year olds reveals only a small synthetic growth over the intervening 30 years during which Canada (53%), Japan (52%), Korea (47%) have all grown well clear while Sweden (42%), Belgium (41%) and Ireland (40%) now also surpass the United States. In rank, the United States has slipped from 1st to equal 7th.International Student Assessment (2006), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The United States is, however, well below the best in terms of student achievement…In the 2003 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the performance in mathematics of 15-year old students in the United States was well below the OECD mean, ranking the United States in a tie for 21st place with Poland, Hungary and Spain and ahead of only Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Mexico.Global Higher Education Rankings 2005 (April 2005), Alex Usher & Amy Cervenan, Education Policy Institute
“…the data and rankings suggest quite strongly that the links between accessibility and affordability are not as straightforward as some policymakers and analysts believe. Sweden, for instance, which has virtually eliminated all financial barriers to education, does not do especially well on any of the key measures of accessibility. On the other hand, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, which fare poorly on most affordability measures, do reasonably well in terms of accessibility. With the already-noted exceptions of Finland and the Netherlands, no country has consistently high scores across both the affordability and accessibility rankings. Similarly, no countries have consistently poor performance on both sets of rankings….”World Education Chart, 2003
Global educational attainment has increased since 1970, though large disparities are present. Norway has the highest average years of schooling (16.9 years) as compared to Mali (2.1 years) which has the lowest average. In general, countries with a higher gross domestic product per capita are also those with higher average educational attainment levels.
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