Minnesota Ranks 12th in People with Bachelor’s Degree

Minnesota leads the midwest but ranks 12th in the nation in the number of people with a Bachelor's Degree or higher.

Minnesota had 38.9% of it's population with college degrees according to the US Census Bureau.

A report from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) shows declines across the board in reading and math scores and a widening inequality gap across various measures such as race, gender, and economic status.

For the first time in history mathematics achievement scores in the United States dropped from 241 in 2020 to 234 in 2022 according to the Associated Press.

As new research rolls in, the stark realities of the effects of COVID-19 on educational attainment are setting in the report states.

Even before the pandemic the U.S. was falling behind the rest of the world.  Compared to 77 other countries, the average U.S. mathematics literacy score ranked 31st, trailing Hungary and just ahead of Belarus.

However across the U.S. the results are anything but equal.

The Northeast in particular is a bright spot for U.S. education and dominates the list of highly educated states.

The NAEP has reported on reading and mathematics achievement of 9, 13, and 17 year olds since the early 1970s.  According to the latest data reading scores dropped five points between 2020 and 2022, the steepest decline since 1990.

Perhaps more alarmingly, mathematics scores slumped seven points, the first drop ever recorded.

The complete list shows the rankings of each state by percentage of the population with a bachelor's degree.

1. District of Columbia  63.0%
2. Massechusetts         46.6%
3. Colorado                  44.4%
4. Vermont                   44.4%
5. New Jersey              43.1%
6. Maryland                  42.5%
7. Connecticut              42.1%
8. Virginia                     41.8%
9. New Hampshire       40.2%
10. New York                  39.9%
11. Washington              39.0%
12. Minnesota                38.9%
13. Illinois                       37.1%
14. Utah                          36.8%
15. Rhode Island            36.5%
16. Oregon                     36.3%
17. California                  36.2%
18. Maine                       36.0%
19. Delaware                 35.6%
20. Kansas                    35.4%
21. Hawaii                      35.3%
22. North Carolina         34.9%
23. Montana                  34.8%
24. Georgia                   34.6%
25. Pennsylvania          34.5%
26. Nebraska                34.4%
27. Florida                    33.1%
28. Texas                      33.1%
29. Alaska                    32.8%
30. Wisconsin              32.5%
31. Arizona                  32.4%
32. North Dakota         31.7%
33. South Dakota        31.7%
34. Missouri                 31.7%
35. Michigan               31.7%
36. South Carolina      31.5%
37. Idaho                     30.7%
38. Ohio                       30.7%
39. Iowa                       30.5%
40. Tennessee             30.5%
41. New Mexico           30.1%
42. Wyoming                29.2%
43. Indiana                   28.9%
44. Oklahoma               27.9%
45. Nevada                   27.6%
46. Alabama                 27.4%
47. Kentucky                27.0%
48. Louisiana               26.4%
49. Arkansas                25.3%
50. Mississippi             24.8%
51. West Virginia         24.1%

The percentage of Rice County Minnesota residents with a bachelors degree is 36.3% according to the US Census Bureau.  Goodhue County 26.6%, Waseca 33.7%, Dakota 43.2%, LeSueur 23.8, Scott 42.3%, Dodge 28.2%.