South Carolina one of the least educated states in the U.S., study says | The State

In a study examining school quality, achievement gaps and educational attainment, South Carolina was ranked one of the least educated states in America, according to a study from financial site Wallethub.

Overall, the Palmetto State was ranked No. 42, beating out states like Alabama, Mississippi and West Virginia.

Massachusetts, Maryland and Vermont took the top three positions in the study.

The study used 20 metrics to rank each state, including share of adults over 25 with a high school diploma, quality of school systems, students enrolled in top universities per capita, graduation rates and racial and gender gaps, according to the study’s methodology section.

South Carolina ranked dead last in gender gap educational attainment, according to the study. That metric measured the difference between the percentages women and men with bachelor’s degrees.

The state also ranked 46th in racial gap in educational attainment.

Other rankings included No. 38 in percentage of high school diploma holders, No. 39 in percentage of associate’s degree holders, No. 37 in percentage of bachelor’s degree holders, No. 35 in percentage of graduate or professional degree holders and No. 27 in average university quality.

The following states ranked lower than South Carolina:

43. Oklahoma

44. Nevada

45. Kentucky

46. Alabama

47. Arkansas

48. Louisiana

49. West Virginia

50. Mississippi

Emily Bohatch

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Emily Bohatch helps cover South Carolina’s government for The State. She also updates The State’s databases. Her accomplishments include winning a Green Eyeshade award in Disaster Reporting in 2018 for her teamwork reporting on Hurricane Irma. She has a degree in Journalism with a minor in Spanish from Ohio University’s E. W. Scripps School of Journalism.