RI ranked last in education in New England

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Rhode Island is not the best, or worst, in education in comparison to the rest of the country – rather we are squarely in the middle of the pack, according to a 2018 report on the Most and Least Educated States in America released by research and financial analysis company Wallethub.

Unfortunately for Little Rhody, the average ranking of 23 out of 50 states is the lowest rank attained by a state in New England, which is often touted for its academic prowess. Massachusetts scored as the top state across the board, Connecticut ranked 3rd, Vermont 4th, New Hampshire scored 7th and Maine scored higher than Rhode Island as well at 22nd.

Factoring into the overall rankings were 15 total metrics grouped into two categories – educational attainment and quality of education. Metrics included data including number of adults aged 25 or older with at least a high school diploma, average quality of state universities and the number of males versus female who have reached a high level of educational attainment.

Fortunately for Rhode Island, the state’s universities were its saving grace in the study. It ranked 4th overall in quality of universities (though, once again, Massachusetts topped out in that category as well).

Not so nice, Rhode Island ranked dead last in the educational gender gap ranking – meaning there is a higher disproportion of men with bachelor’s degrees than women than any other state in the country.

Data used to create rankings in the study were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, National Center for Education Statistics, The Chronicle of Higher Education, U.S. News & World Report, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, U.S. Department of Education, The College Board and WalletHub research.