OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma ranks 41st of the most educated states because less than a quarter of adults have a bachelor’s degree and about one-tenth have a graduate or professional degree, an analysis by a consumer finance service found.
The study by WalletHub used 11 criteria to make the findings in its 2017 Most & Least Educated States study. The survey examined the percentage of adults with at least a high school diploma and the gender gap in educational attainment.
Massachusetts came in first with a score of 80.65 of 100 possible points. West Virginia came in last with 11.99.
Oklahoma achieved the No. 16 rank in the number of students enrolled in top universities per capita and came in at No. 19 in the difference between the percentage of female and male bachelor’s degree holders.
The state ended up in the bottom 10 because only 24 percent of its adults possess a bachelor’s degree and just 8 percent have master’s or other professional degrees, The Oklahoman reported (https://bit.ly/2jpFZRj ).
Teachers, lawmakers and parents have grappled with how to fund all levels of education in Oklahoma in recent years.
Last year, the Legislature slashed budgets to close a $1 billion-plus hole. The cuts were felt from classrooms to social service programs in the state. Some schools moved to four-day weeks and many of the state’s teachers, who are among the lowest paid in the nation, fled for neighboring states.
In November, voters rejected a penny sales tax increase that would have funded pay raises for teachers.
Natalie Shirley, the secretary of education and workforce development, said thousands of jobs go unfilled in Oklahoma because employers can’t find workers who are qualified enough.
A new state initiative wants to increase the number of workers with a college degree or other advanced training by about 600,000 by 2025, the year roughly 80 percent of state’s jobs will require a degree beyond high school.
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Information from: The Oklahoman, https://www.newsok.com
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