January 25, 2017
New Jersey earned bragging rights this week by besting its neighbors and being named one of the most-educated U.S. states, according to a recent study.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, unveiled its findings Tuesday from an analysis on the "Most & Least Educated States." Now Jersey eked its way into the Top 10, making it the only Delaware Valley state to do so. Delaware ranked 17th while Pennsylvania fell into the bottom half of the list at No. 28.
To compile the rankings, researchers compared all 50 states on 11 key metrics which correlate to strong educational systems, including average university quality and the gender gap in educational attainment.
New Jersey's spot on the list should come as no surprise as the state was recognized last week as the best at providing education and child care, making the Garden State one of the top places to raise a family.
In this list, New Jersey was boosted by the fifth-highest percentage of residents with college degrees among U.S. states. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania ranked 29th in the same category.
Both New Jersey and Pennsylvania posted similar marks, 13th and 16th respectively, in the education quality and attainment gap category, which factored in the quality of schools, diversity in classrooms and graduation rates.
The top five most-educated states were as follows:
1. Massachusetts
2. Maryland
3. Colorado
4. Connecticut
5. Vermont
