The Chronicle of Higher Education has an interactive U.S. map showing, by state, the proportion of adults aged 25-34 who hold college degrees. In the U.S. overall, 37.8% of adults aged 25-34 have college degrees. The Chronicle does not specify whether this is for 2-year or 4-year degrees. According to the map, the most-educated state is Massachusetts (53.4%, and the District of Columbia tops that at 63.5%), and the least educated states are Nevada and West Virginia (28.2% each). Click here to go to the interactive map.
Achieving President Obama's goal of becoming the world's most-educated (not best-educated) nation will require approximately doubling the size of higher education. NAS writers have expressed some opinions on this plan (see links above), but what do you think? Should America expand higher education to the extent necessary to reach President Obama's goal?
