Think NJ is dumb? Fuggetaboutit! Where we rank in college degrees

There really are two very valid and opposite schools of thought on the importance of higher education.

Some say college degrees are useless and only leave young adults in a world of debt. Learning a trade can be done at a fraction of the cost with a solid future income in fields that will almost always be in demand. AI isn’t replacing a hands-on plumber.

Others point out that even with the highest cost of tuition, you will generally earn more over your lifetime by having earned a bachelor’s degree. The median salary for 22-to 27-year-olds with only a high school diploma is $36,000 annually, whereas it’s $60,000 for the same age group with a bachelor’s degree.

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Photo by PTTI EDU on Unsplash

Over a lifetime the difference can be staggering.

$1.6 million with a high school diploma versus $2.8 million with a bachelor’s degree. An additional lifetime difference of $1.2 million more. 

So where does New Jersey rank among other states for the number of bachelor’s degrees and advanced degrees?

Quite high.

A report based on U.S. Census info was created on behalf of Concordia University, St. Paul to determine which states have the highest percentage of adults with bachelor's and graduate degrees.

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Photo by Dom Fou on Unsplash

Now we’re not number one.

Before I tell where we rank, who would you guess would be number one? If K-12 public education were any indication, I would have guessed Massachusetts. Hey, remember the movie “Good Will Hunting” set in Massachusetts? “My boy’s wicked smart!”

It’s not Massachusetts. They ranked 5th in the number of bachelor's degrees, with 25.7% of the population having one. The most is Colorado. 29.0% earned a bachelor’s degree there.

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Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

But New Jersey does rank 2nd place. 26.4% of us earned a bachelor’s degree in the Garden State. Impressive, right?

Now when it comes to graduate and professional degrees, that’s where my assumptions about Massachusetts kind of make sense. They were number one, so it’s that they went beyond just a bachelor’s.

But New Jersey is still holding its own.

The Garden State ranks in the top 10 in that category landing at 8th in the nation for graduate and professional degrees with 18.2% earning one.

Perhaps to no one’s surprise West Virginia scored dead last in both categories.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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