Educational Attainment
An educated population is one of the most important components of a vital, healthy state. In this light Virginia does quite well, generally increasing its citizens' level of educational attainment and surpassing the national average in high school and baccalaureate degrees or higher.
Why is This Important?
Educational attainment measures the level of education reached by people currently living in a particular area. It is a long-term indicator of the investment that a state or region has made in developing and attracting human capital and provides a "big picture" assessment of its overall quality of life, workforce preparedness, and economic potential.
How is Virginia Doing?
Virginia's educational attainment is slightly above the national average in terms of individuals with a high school education, but well above average for individuals with education beyond the secondary level. In 2014, Virginia ranked 29th in the nation for the percentage of its adult population (25 years or older) with at least a high school education, but 6th for adults with at least a bachelor's degree.
88.5 percent of Virginia adults had completed at least high school in 2014, exceeding the national average of 86.9 percent. Virginia's rate was higher than neighboring states Tennessee (85.8%) and North Carolina (86.4%), but lower than Maryland (89.6%). Alaska led the nation with 92.9 percent of its adult population having at least a high school education.
The percentage of Virginia's adult population with at least a bachelor's degree has exceeded the national average for many years, increasing from 33.2 percent in 2005 to 36.7 percent in 2014; the national average in 2014 was 30.1 percent. Comparing rates with peer states, Virginia still lags behind Maryland's rate of 38.2 percent, but is above North Carolina (28.7%) and Tennessee (25.3%). Massachusetts again led the nation in 2014 with 41.2 percent of residents with a bachelor's degree or above.
Focusing just on Virginia, educational attainment improved in every region across the state between 2000 and 2010-2014 (see Data Note below). All regions increased both their high school- and college-educated populations, with the Northern and Hampton Roads regions having the highest high school-educated populations, and the Northern and Central regions having the highest college-educated ones.
What Influences Educational Attainment?
A number of factors influence educational attainment, including availability and quality of educational services, affordability, economic opportunity, responsiveness of educational institutions to the particular needs of a community or region, regional culture, and migration into and out of the state.
What is the State's Role?
The state's role is to:
- Ensure that the public education system maintains high standards for overall quality, instruction, and graduation rates
- Provide programs that promote educational attainment and help students access postsecondary education
- Provide career services and awareness of job-related education, skills, and training
- Increase economic opportunity by anticipating and responding to economic forces and trends
State rankings are ordered so that #1 is understood to be the best.
Data Definitions and Sources
State Graphs
American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/main.html
(updated annually in December)
2003-2014 figures are based on American Community Survey 1-year estimates.
Regional Graphs
U.S. Census
Bureau
www.census.gov/
[2000 figures are from decennial census
(updated with national census every 10 years); 2010-2014 figures are based on American Community
Survey 5-year estimates between January 2010
and December 2014]
See the Data Sources and Updates Calendar for a detailed list of the data resources used for indicator measures on Virginia Performs.
