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To: stockman_scott who wrote (576)	4/30/2003 10:43:18 PM
From: ~digs	Respond to of 6763

Report: Greater percentage of Americans educated By Tamara Henry, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — Americans are more educated than ever before, with a greater percentage graduating from high school and college than a decade ago, U.S. Census data released Tuesday show. Eighty percent of Americans are graduates of high school or higher, compared with 75.2% in 1990, the 2000 figures show. That change came about in part because of a decline in the rate of students dropping out before ninth grade: 7.5% in 2000, compared with 10.4% in 1990. Terry Hartle of the American Council on Education, an umbrella group for colleges, says he's not surprised at the trend. "There is a strong positive correlation between education and income," he says. "The more you learn determines, on average, how much you earn. The public gets it, and they are rushing to increase their human capital." Even so, he says, the level of increase surprised him. Broken down by state, Alaska had the highest percentage of adults with a high school diploma or higher: 88.3%. Minnesota and Wyoming were next with 87.9% each, followed by Utah, 87.7%, and New Hampshire, 87.4%. Mississippi had the lowest percentage of the population with at least a high school diploma, at 72.9%. The Census data, based on estimates from the long form sent to one in six households, showed that among people 25 and older: 21% of Americans had taken some college courses but had not earned a degree in 2000, compared with 18.7% 10 years earlier. 15.5% had earned a bachelor's degree but no higher, compared with 13.1% in 1990. 8.9% earned graduate or professional degrees, compared with 7.2% earlier. The Boulder, Colo., area has the most educated population: 52.4% of its residents 25 years old or older had a bachelor's degree or higher in 2000. Merced, Calif., ranked lowest with 11%. Nationally, Hartle says that "participation in postsecondary education has been going up for decades and showing no signs of stopping." He points to U.S. Department of Education statistics that show there were 13.8 million students enrolled in postsecondary education in 1997; 15.5 million students are enrolled this year. Education officials project the number will rise to 17.5 million by 2010. "To put that 15.5 million college students in context, there are 15.1 million secondary-school students in the United States. So we have more college students in this country than high school students," Hartle says. "It's exciting. It's dramatic. I think it's pretty safe to say most people wouldn't dream that we'd have more people in college than we have in high school." Presently, 63% of high school graduates go to college immediately after graduation, the highest rate ever, Hartle says. In 1970, when the military draft was in full swing, 52% of high school graduates went immediately to college. more census figures and the resulting conclusions @ usatoday.com