Southwest Planning Region: Closing the Gap
By Cameron Macht and Brent Pearson
June 2011
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Southwestern Minnesota lags the state and country when it comes to education – largely because of a population that skews older than normal – but a younger generation is helping the region to catch up.
It seems unthinkable now, but 65 years ago less than 35 percent of the U.S. adult population had graduated from high school and only 5 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.1] Not coincidentally, this also marked the first year of the baby boom generation, which was born from 1946 to 1964.
The baby boomers — still about 77 million strong — transformed educational attainment in the United States. By 2009 nearly 85 percent of adults had a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED), and nearly 35 percent of adults had associate, bachelor’s, or higher degrees.
During that period, Minnesota became well known for its highly educated population. The state ended 2009 tied with Wyoming for the highest percentage of high school graduates in the country, and it had the sixth-highest percentage of adults with post-secondary degrees (38.1 percent).
About 88 percent of adults in southwestern Minnesota had at least a high school diploma or GED, which was 3 percent below the state rate (90.6 percent) but 3.5 percent above the U.S. rate (84.3 percent). Nearly half of the region’s residents stopped at high school, however. About 35 percent had a high school diploma or GED, and just over 12 percent did not graduate from high school (see Table 1).
Table 1
Educational Attainment for the Population
18 Years and Over, 2005 to 2009 |
| |
United States |
State of Minnesota |
Southwest Minnesota Planning Region |
| |
Percent |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
| Total Population, 18 Years and Over |
100.0% |
100.0% |
298,652 |
100.0% |
| Less than H.S. Diploma |
15.7% |
9.4% |
36,543 |
12.2% |
| H.S. Diploma or More |
84.3% |
90.6% |
262,109 |
87.8% |
| H.S. Diploma or GED |
29.7% |
28.2% |
103,733 |
34.7% |
| Some College, No Degree |
22.5% |
24.7% |
77,464 |
25.9% |
| Associate Degree |
7.1% |
9.2% |
27,347 |
9.2% |
| Bachelor’s Degree or Higher |
25.1% |
28.4% |
53,565 |
17.9% |
| Source: American Community Survey, 2005 to 2009 |
The other half (53 percent) of the adult population in the 23-county Southwest Planning Region gained some post-secondary education: 25.9 percent attended college but did not graduate, 9.2 percent obtained an associate degree, and 17.9 percent earned a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Overall, southwestern Minnesota has a higher percentage of people who attended college but did not complete a degree than the state and the country, as well as a notable advantage over the country in the percentage of workers with an associate degree. But the region is significantly behind the state and country in the percentage of workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Lifelong Learning
Much of the lag behind the state and country is the result of the region’s older demographic. In 2009 16.9 percent of the population in southwestern Minnesota was 65 years or over, a generation that did not have the same educational opportunities as the generations that followed. Indeed, a different picture of the region emerges when looking at educational attainment by age group (see Table 2).
Table 2
| Educational Attainment by Age Group, 2005 to 2009 |
| |
United States |
State of Minnesota |
Southwest Minnesota |
Gap
with the U.S. |
| |
Percent |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
| 18 to 24 years |
13.1% |
13.3% |
46,612 |
15.6% |
2.5% |
| Less than H.S. Diploma |
17.2% |
13.2% |
5,660 |
12.1% |
-5.1% |
| H.S. Diploma or GED |
32.0% |
29.3% |
13,488 |
28.9% |
-3.1% |
| Some College, No Degree |
37.1% |
40.0% |
20,960 |
45.0% |
7.9% |
| Associate Degree |
4.7% |
6.9% |
3,374 |
7.2% |
2.5% |
| Bachelor’s Degree or Higher |
9.0% |
10.6% |
3,130 |
6.7% |
-2.3% |
| 25 to 34 years |
17.8% |
17.2% |
37,638 |
12.6% |
-5.2% |
| Less than H.S. Diploma |
13.4% |
7.2% |
3,344 |
8.9% |
-4.5% |
| H.S. Diploma or GED |
26.0% |
20.8% |
9,849 |
26.2% |
0.2% |
| Some College, No Degree |
21.9% |
22.4% |
9,056 |
24.1% |
2.2% |
| Associate Degree |
8.1% |
12.1% |
5,961 |
15.8% |
7.7% |
| Bachelor’s Degree or Higher |
30.5% |
37.5% |
9,428 |
25.0% |
-5.5% |
| 35 to 44 years |
18.8% |
18.7% |
47,204 |
15.8% |
-3.0% |
| Less than H.S. Diploma |
12.8% |
6.0% |
3,421 |
7.2% |
-5.6% |
| H.S. Diploma or GED |
27.7% |
22.7% |
14,219 |
30.1% |
2.4% |
| Some College, No Degree |
20.5% |
23.4% |
12,129 |
25.7% |
5.2% |
| Associate Degree |
8.8% |
11.7% |
6,310 |
13.4% |
4.6% |
| Bachelor’s Degree or Higher |
30.2% |
36.2% |
11,125 |
23.6% |
-6.6% |
| 45 to 64 years |
33.5% |
34.4% |
102,010 |
34.2% |
0.7% |
| Less than H.S. Diploma |
12.8% |
5.8% |
7,057 |
6.9% |
-5.9% |
| H.S. Diploma or GED |
29.4% |
29.7% |
38,307 |
37.6% |
8.2% |
| Some College, No Degree |
21.1% |
23.8% |
24,939 |
24.4% |
3.3% |
| Associate Degree |
8.1% |
9.8% |
9,942 |
9.7% |
1.6% |
| Bachelor’s Degree or Higher |
28.5% |
30.9% |
21,765 |
21.3% |
-7.2% |
| 65 years and over |
16.7% |
16.4% |
65,188 |
21.8% |
5.1% |
| Less than H.S. Diploma |
25.8% |
20.2% |
17,061 |
26.2% |
0.4% |
| H.S. Diploma or GED |
34.4% |
38.5% |
27,870 |
42.8% |
8.4% |
| Some College, No Degree |
16.8% |
18.1% |
10,380 |
15.9% |
-0.9% |
| Associate Degree |
3.8% |
3.7% |
1,760 |
2.7% |
-1.1% |
| Bachelor’s Degree or Higher |
19.3% |
19.5% |
8,117 |
12.5% |
-6.8% |
| Source: American Community Survey, 2005 to 2009 |
More than one-fifth (21.8 percent) of the region’s adult population is 65 years and over, which is 5 percent higher than the U.S. Almost 70 percent of this age group had a high school diploma or less, and just 15 percent had a college degree.
More than twice as many people in the next age group (31 percent) — the baby boom generation — had earned a college degree, including almost 10 percent who had associate degrees. In fact, southwestern Minnesota showed an advantage over the country in the percentage of people age 45 to 64 with some college experience or an associate degree, but it had the largest comparative gap in people with bachelor’s degrees or higher.
In each younger age group, the region progressively closed the gap in the percentage of people with college degrees. For the 35- to 44-year-old age group, southwestern Minnesota lagged the nation by 6.6 percent in bachelor’s degrees or higher, but it led the nation by 4.6 percent in associate degrees.
The region actually had a higher percentage of 25 to 34 year olds with college degrees, thanks to an advantage of 7.7 percent in associate degrees compared with a 5.5 percent gap in bachelor’s degrees or higher. For the youngest age group, southwestern Minnesota again has competitive educational attainment, including the smallest gap (-2.3 percent) in bachelor’s degrees or higher. Perhaps more impressively, a higher percentage of 18 to 24 year olds in the region have attended some college or earned associate, bachelor’s, or higher degrees (58.9 percent) than in Minnesota (57.5 percent).
College Towns
Because of the region’s larger senior citizen population, it might seem surprising that it has a slightly higher percentage of people in the 18- to 24-year-old age group as well. But southwestern Minnesota is also home to several colleges and universities, which serve thousands of students. Cities in the region with college campuses include Canby, Granite Falls, Jackson, Mankato, Marshall, New Ulm, North Mankato, Pipestone, Saint Peter, and Worthington with a total of over 45,900 students.
Predictably, in the cities and counties where these colleges are located, educational attainment is higher than the rest of the region. Nearly two-thirds (63.8 percent) of the adult population in the cities with colleges had at least some college experience, and just over 30 percent had a college degree. Likewise, just under 30 percent of the adults in counties with colleges had an associate, bachelor’s, or higher degree, which was in line with national figures (see Figure 1).
No age group or comparison, however, can erase the region’s lag in bachelor’s degrees or higher. Even in the cities and counties with colleges, the area has fewer highly educated adults than the country or state. As shown in Figure 1 and Table 2, the region’s adults are around 7 percent below the national rate for people with bachelor’s degrees or higher and 10 percent behind the state.
Southwestern Minnesota’s advantage in associate degrees helps to close the gap, and the region would benefit from efforts to help the large percentage of adults who started college but didn’t finish. But the more important trend for southwestern Minnesota will be increasing education for young adults and their willingness to stay in the region after earning college degrees.
1] “Educational Attainment in the United States: 2003,” Figure 1, Page 2, www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf
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