If you find good news boring, you should probably skip this column.
Changes in the characteristics of a population of a country, state or county tend to be gradual. For instance, changes of any significance in the median age or racial composition of a population typically require a generation or longer.
But there are exceptions. A surprising exception – at least it’s surprising to me – is the increase in the level of educational attainment of the populations of the U.S., Georgia and Glynn since 2000.
According to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data, of people age 25 years or older in the U.S. in 2000, 52 percent had at least some college, while 48 percent had at most a high school diploma. Twenty-four percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher, while 20 percent had not graduated from high school.
Of people age 25 years or older in the U.S. today, 62 percent have at least some college, 38 percent have at most a high school diploma, 33 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 11 percent have not graduated from high school.
That’s quite a change. Yes, it happened over 20 years, but it takes a good bit of time to produce an educated person, and it takes unrelenting persistence and dedication over a good bit of time to significantly reduce the high school dropout rate. Reducing the percentage of the 25 years or older population without a high school diploma from 20 percent to 11 percent in 19 years is a remarkable achievement.
Georgia is part of this national success. In 2000, of Georgians age 25 years or older, 50 percent had at least some college, 50 percent had at most a high school diploma, 24 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 21 percent had not graduated from high school.
Of Georgians age 25 years or older today, 60.5 percent have at least some college, 39.5 percent have at most a high school diploma, 32.5 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 12 percent have not graduated from high school.
How about hometown? Glynn is in on the success, too.
In 2000, 53 percent of Glynn residents age 25 years or older had at least some college, 47 percent had at most a high school diploma, 24 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 18 percent had not graduated from high school.
Today, 62 percent of Glynn residents age 25 years or older have at least some college, 38 percent have at most a high school diploma, 28 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 10 percent have not graduated from high school.
What’s more, this trend is going to continue for a while. Within the 25 years or older population, the level of educational attainment varies inversely with age. That is, in aggregate, the level of educational attainment is highest among younger people and lowest among older people.
Today, while 33 percent of Americans age 25 years or older have a bachelor’s degree or higher, 39 percent of Americans age 25 years to 29 years have a bachelor’s degree or higher. And while 11 percent of Americans age 25 years or older have not graduated from high school, only 5 percent of Americans age 25 years to 29 years have not graduated from high school.
Of course, the past 20 years is just the most recent stretch of the trend in American educational attainment that began long ago. But in case you’ve now had enough good news for one day, we’ll save the long-term trend for my next column.
Reg Murphy Center