The latest US Education study wasn’t so good for South Carolina schools.
Last week, US News and World Report released their Best States rankings with data from McKinsey & Company. On the Best States for Education list, South Carolina schools came in last place.
The results put Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Hampshire at the very top, while the Palmetto state anchored the list at #50.US News and World Report states only 36 percent of the 4.9 million people in South Carolina are college educated.
The overall education score is an even mix between higher education factors like educational attainment, graduation rates, tuition costs and college debt and also Pre-K – 12 factors like test scores and public high school graduation rates. SC was ranked 44th for Higher Education and 48th for Pre-K- 12.
Despite the unfavorable overall score, closer examination of the numbers reveals certain aspects of the state’s education system garnered high marks with researchers. Though SC ranked poorly for their 2-year college graduation rate, South Carolinians came in 13th place for their 4-year college graduation rate. On the Pre-K-12 side of the list, SC ranked low on college readiness, but the state came in fourth place in the US for Pre-K quality.
For more information, see the full study here.