There are several states in the U.S. that are losing the eduction race to most of the others. In the past decade, these states have declining math and reading scores, lower numbers of people with bachelor’s degrees, and comparatively fewer residents who hold white collar jobs. Colorado, Michigan, and eight others are losing this competition to states who have residents that are better educated and who have done a better job obtaining higher quality jobs. These failing states have lost ground compared to the national average.

The recent State of the Union address, and almost any sweeping political speech or document that writes or speaks about unemployment and future competition for jobs, impresses the point that a well educated workforce–a smart workforce–has comparative advantages. Regions with better-educated people tend to find it easier to draw and retain businesses. These regions are also likely to be more competitive in contrast to nations around the world like China, which has posted sharp increases in the level of educational attainment among its citizens.

Well-educated people find it easier to obtain and keep jobs. American unemployment figures consistently show that the part of the population with high levels of eduction have lower unemployment. This makes sense: skill equals aptitude in most cases. An employer who has to pick between two potential employees is likely to choose the one who reads best, writes best, and has the highest level of educational attainment. There are exceptions to this when jobs require very specific backgrounds, but across the American workforce, which has tens of millions of workers, any employer would want to have an employee who can show his educational background is stronger than that of fellow applicants.

An educated employee will not just have an advantage now, but may have more of one in the future. This is one of the reasons 24/7 Wall St. looked at trends over an entire decade. Funds of educational facilities and educators have already been eroded in many states and municipalities by budget cuts. The slow economic recovery and the move toward austerity in Washington is likely to make this trend more alarming. The portion of people who are adults with good educations may actually drop as the capital necessary to maintain a strong educational “infrastructure” is depleted. The portion of the population which is well-educated now may have reached a high-water market, at least for the foreseeable future.

The problem that America has begun to lose its education edge is not national, it is local. Americans are not educated nationally. They are educated locally. The problems of a well-educated workforce end up being fought at the state and municipal level, as the 24/7 Wall St. data shows.

Just as the problem with education is local, the solutions have to be. The states on the 24/7 Wall St. States Running Out Of Smart People report will almost certainly need resources that are greater than, or at least as great as, states which have better statistics. These are the resources that will allow them to be competitive nationally and internationally.

24/7 Wall St. looked at National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores for math and reading in 2003 and 2009. We also looked at the percentage of people in each state with bachelor’s degrees, and their increases compared to the increases in the total populations in their states.  We analysed the Bureau of Labor Statistics data on the portion of each state’s population which has white collar jobs. To supplement the figures which we used in the final analysis, 24/7 also reviewed numbers for high school and graduate school education.

This is the 24/7 Wall Street review of the ten states with the lowest education achievement and job levels compared to the other forty–The States Running Out Of Smart People.

10. Utah
> Population Change (2000-2009): 418,647 (18.8%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 28.5% (19th)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 12.9% (28th)
> NAEP Math: 28th
> NAEP Reading: 23rd

Utah has the fifth worst increase in the nation for adults with bachelor’s degrees from 2000 to 2009. While adults across the country are increasingly receiving college degrees, Utah has experienced a relatively small amount of growth in this area, with an increase of only 9%.  In Kentucky, the highest rated state, the number of adults with bachelor’s degrees increased by 22%.  Utah also has the eighth worst change in advanced degrees, with only a 10.7% increase between 2000 and 2009.

9. Texas
> Population Change (2000-2009): 2,967,222 (14.2%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 25.5% (30th)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 12.5% (32nd)
> NAEP Math: 18th
> NAEP Reading: 34th

Despite significant improvements in test scores both for math and reading, the portion of Texas’ adult population with at least a high school education has gotten even worse relative to other states than it was ten years ago. In 2000, the state had the seventh-worst rank in this category, it is now only better than Mississippi. The percentage of Texas’ population with a white collar job has decreased more than 3% between 2000 and 2009, the fourth worst performance by any state. Texas also experienced one of the smallest increases in higher education, ranking 45th in bachelor’s degrees and 42nd in advanced degrees.

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8. Iowa
> Population Change (2000-2009): 52,556 (1.8%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 25.1% (35th)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 13.4% (20th)
> NAEP Math: 27th
> NAEP Reading: 27th

Reading scores among Iowa’s 8th graders underwent the third greatest decrease in the nation between 2003 and 2009, based on numbers released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  With regards to math scores, the state ranks 49th out of all 50 states.  Math scores have not fallen in this time period, but they have essentially stalled while other states experienced substantial increases.

7. Wyoming

> Population Change (2000-2009): 30,167 (6.1%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 23.8% (40th)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 13.6% (18th)
> NAEP Math: 20th
> NAEP Reading: 12th

In 2000, Wyoming had the third highest percentage of adults with a high school diploma. Since then, the state has had one of the worst improvements in the country in graduation rates. In the same time frame, the percentage of adults with bachelors degrees has decreased from 33rd in the nation to 40th. All but four states had better improvements in math scores between 2003 and 2009.

6. Arizona

> Population Change (2000-2009): 1,194,233 (23.3%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 25.6% (29th)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 11.3% (40th)
> NAEP Math: 39th
> NAEP Reading: 41st

Arizona ranks in the bottom ten for the majority of metrics considered for this list.  Between 2000 and 2009 the amount of adults in the state with a high school diploma decreased by 0.85%, the eighth worst decrease in the country.  The state also has the fourth lowest increase in adults with bachelor’s degrees and the the eighth lowest increase in adults with advanced degrees.  Arizona has lost over 3% of its population with careers that require some sort of post-secondary degree between 2000 and 2009, the sixth worst drop in the nation.

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5. Alaska

> Population Change (2000-2009): 56,210 (9%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 26.6% (24th)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 10.5% (46th)
> NAEP Math: 30th
> NAEP Reading: 39th

While average reading scores in Alaska improved significantly between 2003 and 2009, math scores fell flat. On top of this, the state performed terribly in educational achievement. The state fell from first to fourteenth in the nation in adults with a high school diploma, and had the smallest increase in the portion of its population with bachelor’s degrees in the country.

4. Idaho

> Population Change (2000-2009): 198,620 (15.4%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 23.9% (39th)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 12.5% (31st)
> NAEP Math: 16th
> NAEP Reading: 28th

In 2000, 84.7% of adults in Idaho had completed high school.  By 2009, the number had dropped to 83.3%.  This decrease of 1.71% is the third worst rate in the country.  Idaho had the eighth worst percent difference in residents with bachelor’s degrees from 2000 to 2009, and the sixth worst percent difference in residents with advanced degrees.

3. Oklahoma

> Population Change (2000-2009): 159,419 (4.6%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 22.7% (42nd)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 11.8% (37th)
> NAEP Math: 41st
> NAEP Reading: 38th

The best Oklahoma performed in any of our metrics was 33rd, for a slight increase in the population with jobs requiring college educations. In every other category, the state experienced significant relative and actual decreases. Oklahoma had the sixth-worst decline in reading scores. Between 2000 and 2009, 39 states had better increases in adults with bachelors degrees, and 45 had better increases in advanced degrees.

2. Michigan

> Population Change (2000-2009): 100,764 (1%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 24.6% (36th)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 11.7% (38th)
> NAEP Math: 36th
> NAEP Reading: 32nd

Michigan’s eighth graders scored significantly worse on reading tests in 2009 than in 2003.  The change was the fourth greatest decrease in the country.  The state also had the third worst change in math scores for eighth graders between those two years.  Michigan lost 6.17% of its population with college degrees between 2000 and 2009, the largest drop among all the states.  This is due in large part to the hard times the American automobile industry has had to face.

1. Colorado

> Population Change (2000-2009): 541,950 (12.6%)
> Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 35.9% (2nd)
> Population With White Collar Careers: 15.1% (8th)
> NAEP Math: 15th
> NAEP Reading: 24th

Colorado’s education outcomes , even now, are quite good. The state has the second highest number of bachelor’s degrees per adult, and the 8th-highest portion of its population with a white-collar job. The state went from 11th in average reading scores to 23rd in seven years. Colorado dropped from 8th to 15th in in the portion of  the population with a high school degree. The state also had one of the largest decreases in white collar workers per capita.

Charles Stockdale and Douglas McIntyre

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