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Percentage of Arkansans with bachelor's lowest in nation Friday, May 16, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas has fallen a notch to 50th in the nation in the percentage of residents older than 25 with a bachelor's degree, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Arkansas previously ranked 49th, ahead of Mississippi and West Virginia, but Mississippi improved to edge out Arkansas in the 2006 rankings the Census Bureau released this week. The District of Columbia ranks first. West Virginia is 51st. State Education Commissioner Ken James made the announcement Thursday at a meeting of the Higher Education Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council's Task Force on higher Education, Remediation, Retention and Graduation Rates. "We're very disappointed, but it also makes the work of our task force even more important and urgent," said Rep. Johnnie Roebuck, D-Arkadelphia. About 18.2 percent of Arkansans older than 25 have a bachelor's degree. The national average is 27 percent. "We need to escalate that number because the leading countries ... are at 55 percent and they're setting their goals even higher than that," James said. Claiborne Deming, CEO of El Dorado-based Murphy Oil Corp., told the task force that the low percentage of college graduates in Arkansas was one of the reasons the company institute a scholarship program tabbed the El Dorado Promise. The program provides graduates of El Dorado High School tuition scholarships in amounts based on their time in the school district. "It was something that we felt like we needed to do or throw in the towel and move (the corporate headquarters) somewhere else," Deming said. "If Murphy Oil Corp. is going to retain the ability in the interest of our shareholders to stay in South Arkansas, we've got to have a viable and growing community." The task force is scheduled to produce a draft of its final report next month. |
