Posted on 06/07/2014 4:38:46 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- When writing an article ranking the "smartest" and "dumbest" states in the Union it is important to explain your methodology. This list is based on the level of education a certain percentage of the residents of each state achieves.
According to information compiled by the website infoplease.com, as of 2010 men with a BA make 60% more than their counterparts with a high school diploma -- $40,000 to $64,000 -- while women with BA's make 56.6% more than their counterparts with a lower level of education -- $30,000 to $47,000.
And the gulf is widening. Twenty years ago male college graduates only made 47.5% more than high school grads while female BA holders made 53% more.
For this reason there is some correlation between states with higher percentages of people with Bachelor's and advanced degrees also having fewer people living below the poverty line.
One would think that states with more colleges and universities per capita might do better on this list but that is not necessarily the case. Vermont -- number 8 on the smartest list -- has the most schools per capita with 1 university per 36,545.3 residents, while New Jersey -- number 6 on the smartest list -- has the second lowest number of schools per capita with 1 university per 526,764.8 residents.
Average SAT scores also do not accurately reflect the level of education as certain states with higher average SAT scores have a smaller percentage of students taking the test. North Dakotan students for example had an average SAT score of 1799 in 2013, good for second in the country. However, the state only had a 2% participation rate.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestreet.com ...
“I’d rather be governed by the first 2,000 people in the Boston phone book than the entire faculty of Harvard.”
-—William F. Buckley, Jr.
I never knew how true that statement was until the last 6 years. We are being overrun by Ivy League-trained LEFTISTS: Kennedy School, Yale Law, Harvard Law, Columbia, Wilson School are all over-represented. Georgetown isn’t Ivy League but it creating almost as much havoc.
Degreed does not equal educated. Nor does educated mean smartest.
There are Ph.D.’s out there that I wouldn’t trust to watch my potted palm for the week-end.
Stunned and amazed SC is in neither!!! Damn Sand Lappers
The dam website is so cluttered with ads, I bailed; otherwise I would have.
Agree. You may not be old enough to remember the old southern comic, Brother Dave Gardiner, but in one of his skits he made reference to one of those types, “Oh, he thinks too much, he bout half smart.”
I love it! Good for you!
Quite so. What we see here is an example of the prevailing extremely sloppy use of the English language.
Great post. There is nothing dumber than elitist (Blue State) liberal scum.
That has GOT to change.
That quote stands right up there with Mr. Buckley himself! Thank you. ;)
I’m looking at sending my kids to college in one of the “dumb” states. Maybe they are dumb, but the out-of-state tuition in OK, AL, MS, LA is quite reasonable and, at least on the internet “virtual tour” the facilities look nice. Also, maybe my kids will meet a “dumb” but decent spouse, who likes “dumb” things like patriotism, conservatism, religion, the traditional family, even fishing.
Ok, well, your description made me drool...
Judging from what all these “smart” folks have done to their states — and this country — I’d much prefer to be “dumb.”
That's to get out-of-staters to buy liquor from the state stores to keep residents' taxes down. Sounds like a smart move.
And you do realize that there are states with drive in or drive through liquor stores, don't you?
New Hampshire is Democrat right now, but of all the New England states it's the most conservative and most Republican.
The out of staters have nothing to do with RH’s status as the #1 drinking state in America.
New Hampshire sells a lot of booze, but our consumption is pretty average
Mass. alcohol tax cut hurt bottom line at N.H. state-owned liquor stores
... More than 50 percent of sales at New Hampshire liquor stores are made to out-of-state residents, Tsiopras said. ...
Of course, when Yankee liberals trot out the old “the south is ignorant, obese and violent” bit, it just reveals their own racism, as the South has larger populations of blacks, who skew the numbers in those categories.
It was kind of a joke, but also kind of serious, along the lines of what you said.
I wouldn’t put anything past people who write buy or read books with titles like What’s the Matter With Kansas?
There’s been a debate in the letters section of the Everett Herald started by one letter essentially saying that the poor of Sno Co are SO STUPID to vote GOP.
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