Education Ranking
Summary
This paper looks at how well various states are educating their students in preschool, kindergarten- 12 grades and in higher education. It also looks South Carolina’s standing in conferring number post- secondary degrees as compared to US average.
While Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Washington and Nebraska are the top five states in overall education ranking from 2017-2019; New Mexico, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Nevada are the bottom five states.
South Carolina has conferred 42% lesser number of post-secondary degrees as compared to US average between 2011-2018.
State Educational Ranking
The Educational ranking comes as a part of The US News and World Report’s “Best State” ranking. The states were ranked on performance in higher education as well as primary and secondary schooling and pre-K education. The measures include percentages of adults with associate degrees or higher, the rates of students completing public four-year and two-year college programs within 150 percent of the normal time, the average tuition and fees for in-state students at public institutions and the average debt load of graduates from public and private colleges. The states also were ranked on percentages of children enrolled in preschool and compared in national testing of eighth graders in math and reading, in rates of graduation from high school and readiness for college. Here an average is obtained from educational ranking reports for the year 2017,2018 and 2019.
Preschool, K-12 Grade Ranking
South Carolina is Ranked 43rd in the nation for PreK-12 Education quality which is 88% below the national average. The ranking takes Preschool enrollment number, 8th grade english and math scores, graduation rates and college readiness of students.
Higher Eduaction Ranking
South Carolina is Ranked 45th in the nation for Higher Education quality which is 82% below the national average. Higher education ranking includes the shares of citizens in each state holding college degrees, as well as the time it takes students to complete both two- and four-year college programs, the cost of in-state tuition and fees, and the burden of debt that college graduates carry.
Overall Eduactional Ranking
Half of the weighting in the overall education rankings goes to higher education and the other half goes to PreK-12 Grade ranking.
South Carolina is ranked 46th in the nation for overall education rating from 2017-2019. This is 88% below the national average for Overall Education Ranking.
Comparison with Number of Post Secondary Degrees Conferred
This comparison includes Associate, Bacahelor, Master and Doctorate Degrees awarded by each state from Fall 2011 to Fall 2018. Doctorate degrees also inclue Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level. Includes most degrees classified as first-professional prior to 2010-11, such as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs.
The data is collected from The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
South Carolina Vs. US Average
Below is a comparison of yearly average number of degrees conferred in South Carolina and rest of the US. The yearly average is obtained from averaging the number degrees granted under each category from Fall 2011 to Fall 2019.
South Carolina have granted lesser number of degrees in each category.
Table of Differences in Number of Degrees Granted
The table below shows the differences(percentage) in the number of degrees granted between South Carolina and US Average. For e.g. South Carolina offers 60% lesser number of Master degrees than the National Average.
| Type.of.Degree | Difference |
|---|---|
| Associate degrees | -43.00% |
| Bachelor degrees | -33.00% |
| Master degrees | -60.00% |
| Doctorate degrees | -48.00% |
| Overall | -42.00% |
| Note: | |
| Comparison of Post Secondary Degree Awarded in South Carolina against US National average | |
| 1 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2011 through Fall 2018, Completions component. | |
| a Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. |
Post Secondary Education Trend in South Carolina
There has been a slight decline in the number of Associate Degrees and a slight increase in the number of Graduate Degrees offered by SC from 2012-2018. Inspite of 11.3% growth in population from April 2010 to April 2019 (according to Census Data) SC’s post secondary graduates numbers have not increased in these seven academic years under study.
