NJ among best states for ‘pre-college learning’

College tuition is daunting. If your kid has their heart set on it and a lucrative and practical career in trades doesn’t interest them, paying for college maybe four of the toughest years of your life.

Would it be nice to know you live in a state that at least sets them up well with excellent "pre-college learning?"

A recent study by PlaygroundEquipment.com analyzed eight key education metrics across all 50 states, including SAT/ACT scores, student-teacher ratios, graduation rates, and bullying statistics. The results revealed the best and worst states for pre-college education.

As far as worst, no worries New Jersey. As much as you love to bash our teachers and the NJEA we are nowhere near the worst. If you had to guess you might say Mississippi or Alabama. But all things considered, they’re 26th and 37th, respectively.

The worst state ranking with a dead last 50th place is New Mexico. Their average SAT score is 885. Yikes!

New Jersey is in good shape. Great shape. We rank 6th best among all 50 states for ‘pre-college learning.’ Our average SAT score is 1050. ACT score of 24.4. New Jersey’s high school graduation rate stands at 85%.

We may be stuck with unfairly high property taxes and the way we fund our schools should change. We also need to consider consolidating school districts. But for our kids to have a solid basis that will help them in higher education, rest assured they’re getting it.

The only states that did better were Iowa, Connecticut, North Dakota, Virginia, and Massachusetts.

But their food sucks, so, yeah.

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

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