2014’s Most and Least Educated Cities
2014’s Most and Least Educated Cities | WalletHub®:
Call them what you will: the cream of the crop, the best and brightest, the intellectual elite. But it’s official; the college-educated third of Americans are society’s new upper crust. Research has shown that skilled workers who are also degree holders tend to pump the most money into their local economies over time. A city’s prosperity, one then can assume, depends in large part on the productivity of its educated citizens.
However expensive college may be in 2014, its economic returns “remain high and provide a pathway for individual economic mobility,” according to a recent report from the Treasury and Education departments. The latter further pointed out that education “expands job opportunities” and “boosts America’s competitiveness” in the global arena.
A little more than a year ago, the Economic Policy Institute also released its report on the effects of education on state finances. The EPI’s findings suggested that college degrees are supremely important in helping to resuscitate weak economies. One way to strengthen states is to attract well-paying employers “by investing in education and increasing the number of well-educated workers.”
As the fall semester commences, WalletHub analyzed the 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States to determine where the most educated Americans are choosing to settle. We examined each city across nine key metrics. Among the set are educational attainment, the percentage of workers with jobs in computer, engineering and science fields as well as the quality and size of each metro area’s universities.
2014’s Most and Least Educated Cities | WalletHub®:
Ask the Experts
As research has evidenced, a skilled and educated workforce can immensely boost the local, state and national economies. To gain insight on strategies that government authorities can employ as well as how we must approach educational development collectively, we asked a panel of experts to weigh in. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:
- Should local authorities tailor programs that attract highly educated people? If so, what types of programs?
- Should the federal government tailor programs that attract highly educated people from abroad? If so, what types of programs?
- In your opinion, what is the most important step we need to take as a country in order to develop a more educated and skilled workforce?