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However, despite this
increase in high school graduates, the analogous increase in
the percent of people with at least a bachelor's degree was
a mere 2.3 percentage points, which ranked 35th in the
country. While Oklahomans increasingly appreciate the need
for a high school diploma, pursuit of a college education
remains underrated.
- Among eleven regional comparison states, Oklahoma has the third
lowest percent of college graduates (although New Mexico, Arizona
and Louisiana are all within 1 percentage point of Oklahoma);
- The percent of college graduates in Oklahoma (20.1%) is below both
national and regional averages (23.6% and 21.3%, respectively) and
ranks 39th in the country;
- An additional 72,300 Oklahomans 25 years or older needed to earn
a bachelor's degree for Oklahoma to match the 1996 proportion of college
graduates;
- Oklahoma increased its proportion of college graduates between 1990
and 1996 by 2.3 percentage points (7th highest increase of eleven
regional comparison states);
- This is below the national increase of 3.2 percentage points, but
above the regional increase of 1.9 percentage points;
- Despite gaining ground on high school graduates, Oklahoma is not
gaining any ground on neighboring states with respect to completion
of 4-year college programs, and is actually loosing ground on the
nation, overall.
(Source: USCB,
1990 Census Data; USCB, Current
Population Reports [P20-493])
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