Chapter 8: State Indicators

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Chapter 8:


Overview

Secondary Education

Higher Education

Workforce

Financial Research and Development Inputs

R&D; Outputs

Science and Technology in the Economy



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State Indicators

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Higher Education

Select Indicator:

Quartiles | Findings | Description

NS&E bachelor's degrees conferred per 1,000 18- to 24-year-olds: 2000

Quartiles

Quartile groups for NS&E bachelor’s degrees conferred per 1,000 18–24-year-olds: 2000*

1st Quartile	2nd Quartile	3rd Quartile	4th Quartile
(18.67 - 9.73)	(9.32 - 8.05)	(7.76 - 6.73)	(6.53 - 3.05)

Colorado	Alabama	Connecticut	Alaska
District of Columbia	Delaware	Idaho	Arizona
Iowa	Indiana	Illinois	Arkansas
Maine	Kansas	Louisiana	California
Maryland	Michigan	New Jersey	Florida
Massachusetts	Minnesota	New Mexico	Georgia
Montana	Missouri	North Carolina	Hawaii
New Hampshire	Nebraska	Ohio	Kentucky
North Dakota	New York	Oklahoma	Mississippi
Pennsylvania	Utah	Oregon	Nevada
Rhode Island	Virginia	South Carolina	Tennessee
South Dakota	Wisconsin	Washington	Texas
Vermont	Wyoming	West Virginia

*States in alphabetical order, not data order. SOURCES: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System; and U.S. Bureau of the Census, Population Division. See table 8-5.

Findings

Over the past decade, the number of NS&E bachelor's degrees increased by roughly 25 percent. Nearly 170,000 degrees were awarded in 1990, and the number of degrees exceeded 200,000 in 2000. During this period, the number of 18–24-year-olds remained relatively constant.
Reflecting the slower population cohort growth, the national average for the number of NS&E bachelor's degrees awarded per 1,000 18–24-year-olds increased from 6.3 in 1990 to 7.6 in 2000; some states, including some larger ones, had pronounced increases in this ratio.
State values ranged from 3.1 to 14.8 and state ratings generally were in the same quartiles on this measure as on the number of bachelor's degrees conferred per 1,000 18–24-year-olds.
In 2000, NS&E bachelor's degrees accounted for 17 percent of all bachelor's degrees awarded, up slightly from 16 percent in 1990.

Description

Natural sciences and engineering (NS&E) include physical, earth, ocean, atmospheric, biological, agricultural and computer sciences; mathematics; and engineering. The ratio of new NS&E bachelor's degrees to the 18–24-year-old population indicates the degree to which a state prepares young people to enter the types of technology-intensive occupations that are fundamental to a knowledge-based, technology-driven economy. The 18–24-year-old cohort was chosen to approximate the age range of most people pursuing an undergraduate degree.

A high value for this indicator may suggest relative success in providing a technical undergraduate education. It may also indicate the existence of a higher education system that draws many out-of-state students into NS&E fields, which may particularly affect the results for some sparsely populated states and the District of Columbia.