Education Indicators

Historically, the high level of the productivity of the American workforce has been a key driver of the country's prosperity.  Productivity has been tightly linked to educational attainment and is likely to become more so in the emerging knowledge economy.  

Through programs like the GI Bill, Pell Grants, and the subsidized student loan program, the U.S. greatly expanded access to a college education.  At the close of World War II, the Census indicates that only about 5 percent of the adult population in the United States had attained a bachelor's degree. By 2022, the Census tells us that 34.8% of all adults had attained an undergraduate degree.

 
However, the rest of the world has been making massive investments in education. The most recent edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), rated the educational systems of 81 middle- and high-income countries and the U.S. (even though it is above the average of the group in every category) still trails a number of other high-income countries with respect to reading, math and science.  The following table, drawn from the 2022 edition of the PISA assessment, compares the U.S. scores relative to a group of East Asian countries, which have some of the best educational systems in the world (China, the main economic competitor of the U.S., was not included in this edition of the exam). 

Ranking of U.S. and East Asian Educational Systems

In terms of education in the St. Croix River Valley counties:

• Expenditures per pupil have been growing in all six counties, but remain below state average spending in Pierce, St. Croix, Washington, and Chisago counties.
• Apart from Burnett County, they tend to score relatively well with respect to third grade reading proficiency, though that proportion fell down significantly after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
• They also do well relative to their states (except for Burnett and Chisago counties) with respect to eighth grade math scores, though large proportions in all six counties are not achieving the expected level of mastery. Eight-grade math proficiency also appears to be negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on education.
• With the exception of Burnett County, all have strong 4-year high school graduation rates.
• Only Washington and St. Croix Counties have higher than state-average percentages of their population with at least a 4-year college degree.