Who has $250,000?

Higher education is an inherently unfair market. Elite private universities practice hereditary privilege while the state colleges and universities, home to three-quarters of America's undergraduates, suffer a dearth of resources. American higher education perpetuates a system of inherited wealth and power while ensuring that the middle class must struggle just to stay in place.TheRaven proposed a simple policy fix that would level the playing field. The idea is so hot that it will never see the light of day.

Accepting higher education as it is, a quest for education attainment really turns on value concepts for the overwhelming majority of parents and aspiring students. Where are the colleges and universities that haven't consigned their "star" professors to research roles (with graduate students handling teaching duties)? An undergraduate degree at an elite private university can top $250,000. This price is completely out of reach for most Americans. Best education for lowest price is the name of the game.

Two veteran instructors tackle quality and cost issues in a new book titled Higher Education? They wrote an insider look and were recently interviewed by theAtlantic. They generally damn the Ivy League as a collection of over-priced education brands. Responding to a comment from yours truly, one of the authors (Claudia Driefus) had this to say:

If we had a child looking at schools now, we'd look first to the value state universities--of which Virginia has several. In our book, "Higher Education?" we have a chapter, "Schools We Like," based on some of own visits and research. It's an impressionistic list--but parents might find some "out of the box" ideas there. A condensation of that chapter appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education and is also on our blog, www.highereducationquestionmark.com

I popped on over to the author's blog and found an interesting list with a few surprises and confirmation of what may be the best unknown higher education option in America, a genuine honors university hiding in a state system. The President of this university has been at the helm for the past 18 years. U.S. News & World Report named him one of America's Best Leaders in 2008 and Time magazine named him one of America's 10 Best College Presidents in 2009. His academic and professional achievements defy summarization. He also appeared in a documentary film titled 4 Little Girls.

This university enrolls almost 10,000 undergraduates and close to 3,000 graduate students. There are 480 full-time and 250 part time faculty teaching in 42 majors, 41 minors and 17 certificate programs in the physical and biological sciences, social and behavioral sciences, engineering, mathematics, information technology, humanities and visual and performing arts.

Top-quartile average SAT score is 1,362 and more than 40% of undergraduates are minorities. Resident tuition and fees are $8,872 and 72% of freshman live on campus. U.S. News & World Report named this school the #1 “Up and Coming” university in the nation and fourth among all colleges and universities in the nation for commitment to undergraduate teaching.

Not only do these two people provide strong endorsement from experience but our authors had this to say about UMBC:

University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The Meyerhoff Scholars Program has greatly increased the number of African-Americans in the biological sciences and engineering. In addition, although the university is a research institution focused on science and engineering, undergraduate instruction in the liberal arts is not an afterthought. President Freeman A. Hrabowski sets a tone at the top that says teaching undergraduates is important, and the faculty knows he means it. Of all the research universities we’ve visited, it is the place that has most capably connected research with undergraduate education.

The excerpt from Higher Education? that was published in the Chronicle can be found here.

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UPDATE 8/19/10: The concept of higher education as value investing is catching on. The author of a new book called Debt Free U, in an interview with the NY Times, says: "Attending an in-state public institution is the easiest and most powerful way to reduce the cost of college".

The Lie that will not Die

We mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 246 days.

While April 12, 1861 saw the initiation of a shooting war accruing from hostility that had simmered for decades. Tension between North and South reached the boiling point almost 30 years before the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter. Andrew Jackson's smackdown of nullification and almost three decades of ensuing compromises and appeasements couldn't prevent the inevitable cataclysm for one and only one reason.

Slavery caused the war.

Governor McDonnell's proclamation of Virginia's "Confederate History Month" four months ago set off a firestorm and a well-earned Presidential rebuke. McDonnell forgot to mention why the war was fought as he eagerly pandered to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and other denialists. Realizing that Virginia's black voters outnumber her white idiots, a chastened McDonnell issued an apology. Analysis of his law school thesis reveals that McDonnell is a Christian extremist, a misogynist and likely a bigot. His apology is therefore a fraud.

Which brings up a question regarding big states of denial. Could any denialism top McDonnell's unpardonable proclamation? Only if proclaimed by the Texas State Legislature.

Texas elected officials saw fit to enshrine the lie that will not die by proclaiming "April is the month in which the Confederate States of  America began and ended a four-year struggle for states' rights, individual freedom, and local government control...".

Did they really say "individual freedom"?

Texas brushed off slavery with liberal use of legislated ignorance: "the morally abhorrent practice of slavery has in the minds of many Texans become the prime motivation of Southern soldiers, despite the fact that 98 percent of Texas Confederate soldiers never owned a slave and never fought to defend slavery; and WHEREAS, Politically correct revisionists would have Texas children believe that their Confederate ancestors fought for slavery when in fact most Texans joined the Confederate armed forces to defend their homes, their families, and their proud heritage as Texans..."

Really?

Because only 2% of fighting Texans - over 2,100 men - were slave owners, Texas can disavow slavery as the cause of the war? The founding documents of the Confederacy explicitly cite the preservation of slavery as raison d'être. Texas was an acknowledged, belligerent member of the Confederacy. Therefore, Texas has ownership of slavery as the cause of the war. Notions of "proud heritage" in context of the Civil War are simply execrable.

Andy Hall, guest blogger at theAtlantic and purveyor of the insightful Dead Confederates, provides expert analysis of a deeper lie. The two-percent figure is an exercise in profound ignorance. Andy is a Civil War scholar with a Texan's intolerance for bullshit. His guest post on theAtlantic explains why slavery is the only root-cause of 600,000 Americans killed in a titanic struggle that redefined war itself.

Hop on over, give it a read and introduce yourself. You can mention TheRaven, they know me there.

Dreaming upwards

Higher education is central to upward mobility, which is in turn the core of the American Dream. There's been a fair amount of press coverage lately on threats to our collective dream. Many students, particularly minorities, do not complete their degrees. Student indebtedness is rising. The Ivy League doesn't merit serious consideration by 99+% of America's youth.

The debate often goes astray, even in the web's most enlightened community, where recent discussion of "white privilege" needed a reminder that the real issue is bigger, broader and deeper. This post repeats a comment added to that discussion, which you can read here.

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The problem with a concept like white privilege is the word white. The question or issue is framed in context of a single, supposedly monolithic group. All white people are not created equal. Their ancestry differs as much as does the history of Europe. Their American experience is strongly influenced by varying degrees of temporal dislocation from immigrant forebears. The tough question is simply ...is there privilege in America? Easy answer, the tough part is then what?

A look at Ivy League student demographics would show steady progress towards ethnic diversification. What about economic diversification? If race and ethnicity are tossed aside and "privilege" is defined along economic lines, the pattern of inherited advantage is clear. I'd argue the economic elites have sought cover under America's public obsession with race. From their perspective, dealing with a black girl from the south side of Chicago who had the temerity to instruct her French instructor (as a sophomore) is easier than combing West Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama or Mississippi to find a rare, white scholar.

Black affirmative action provided an unintentional diversion from a legacy of prejudice towards disadvantaged whites, not limited to obvious social and economic disadvantage found in the 12 States of Stupid. Higher education financing has been a rigged game from jump. Solidly middle-class families in New York and New Jersey with kids who are merely intelligent have also been locked out of the Ivy League.The issue really is about fairness, meritocracy and wealth redistribution.

"Not for profit" is a convenient misnomer. It means profits are not subject to income tax, as opposed to legislation that specifies an organization shouldn't make a profit. Rich, private universities not only turn a profit on education services, they also reap income from endowments provided by generations of rich alumni. The system is aided and abetted by our tax code to further concentrate wealth and power according to inherited privilege. Scholarships are simply the cost of good public relations. Do you know many impoverished or struggling Ivy League graduates over the age of 35?

Here's a blindingly simple fix that rebalances American higher education towards its greatest strengths. State colleges and universities are the true engines of upward mobility. State university systems are under tremendous, long-term financial strain. Instead of cutting back on the only education opportunity available to the American majority, why don't we boost funding to public higher education by killing off the not-for-tax status of private universities? This will work if such change also mandates payment of increased tax revenues into a trust fund that is disbursed solely to public colleges and universities.

The elites can continue to drop $200,000 for a Columbia undergraduate degree, Columbia will pay taxes on its income (including investment income from its endowments) to New York and the Federal government and Federal receipts will be apportioned back to state institutions based on relative full-time-equivalent enrollment (or some such). This solution would create a color-blind, elective wealth transfer that balances education, opportunity and heredity without need of commissions, investigations or recriminations.

Who votes for democracy in higher education?

Once upon a time, in America

America's sad immigration situation seems to make headlines every other day. Unfortunately, as mainstream media struggles to survive the early 21st century, it eschews thoughtful analysis for sensationalist headlines. This gives amoral idiots like Tom Tancredo too much ink.

This post repeats a comment  TheRaven added to an immigration discussion held by the web's most enlightened community. Click here to access.

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Immigration is a central narrative in my life and it is a primary narrative in the American Experience. I am, therefore, enraged to the point of speechlessness when 19th century anti-Irish invective is recycled against Central & South Americans. Anti-immigrant rhetoric has been nothing more than simple pride in ignorance over the 85,489 days since America was born.

I'll try to put the legal status of undocumented residents in an appropriate macro context with a moral fable.

Once upon a time, in America...

...there were two towns named Whiteville and Brownville. The residents of Whiteville needed a new community center, however, they were hard-pressed to fund the project. Their tax rates were onerous and because Whiteville residents were obsessed with appearances, much of their disposable income went to essentials such as RVs, SUVs, John Deere lawnmowers, swimming pools, $50,000 bathrooms and $100,000 kitchens. Many Whiteville folks were heavily in debt, but they sure looked prosperous. A campaign to fund construction reached only 50% of its goal. Whiteville was shocked and appalled. In desperation, city fathers met to find a solution.

Prosperous Whiteville had a 5% unemployment rate. Brownville unemployment was the same - with an appended zero. Whiteville residents were largely educated and employed in white-collar professions. Brownville was full of carpenters, dry wall installers, roofers, landscapers and masons, with a sprinkling of electricians and plumbers. Brownville folks had provided construction labor to Whiteville for a long time. Whenever a Whiteville person would disparage the limited formal education found in Brownville, they'd usually end with "...but they sure do work hard! Brownville people were devoutly Christian (and largely Catholic), a fact which seemed oddly lost on Whiteville, which was devoutly Christian (but largely Protestant).

With families to feed, the Brownville tradesmen banded together and pitched Whiteville an offer that couldn't be refused. They'd build the community center at rock-bottom wages. Their skill, efficiency and willingness to work for a fraction of what Whiteville trades people were typically paid meant that the community center could be built for only 50% of budget. The offer was accepted. A project manager from Brownville was appointed because Whiteville people communicated only in business cliches, which trades people didn't quite grasp. The community center's architect was, of course, from Whiteville.

The project manager proved quite competent, with thorough knowledge of construction techniques and regulatory compliance. Permits were obtained for every phase of the work. Whiteville building inspectors were amazed at the quality of construction and found little wrong. All problems noted were immediately corrected, without argument. The Community center was completed ahead of schedule and slightly under budget. A grand unveiling was scheduled.

And then, there was a problem.

Whiteville's official motto was Progress through Conformity. City fathers had enacted thousands of small regulations over preceding decades aimed at furthering such goal. Each rule was well-intended but in a macro sense, largely frivolous. Bowing to the community's strongly expressed desire to maintain proper appearances, they expanded construction codes to include cosmetic items, with special attention given to window treatments.

The project manager was not aware of permit and inspection requirements for window treatments. While the community center's foundation was solid, its framing was sound and its mechanical systems perfect, its window dressing was completely non-compliant. An uproar ensued. Editorials were written excoriating the project manager's lack of knowledge regarding crucial regulations. Because few people in Whiteville had ever worked in the skilled trades, the essential qualities of the community center were never discussed, but its safety was repeatedly impugned.

The city council met in a special session to resolve the crisis. They debated the functional worth of the community center versus the importance of window dressing. Was it more important that Whiteville youth had a safe recreational environment or that Whiteville's code book be followed to the last letter?

The mayor stepped in after the council became hopelessly deadlocked. He was, by trade, a trial lawyer, well-versed in clever arguments that appealed to core values found in the average Whiteville jury. There was only one possible solution and his eloquence could easily sell it.

"Window dressing is the core of Whiteville's community identity" he intoned. "Window dressing is enshrined in our rule of law. It is, in fact, who we are!" The only solution, he explained, was that the community center would have to be torn down and rebuilt, with the new project funded by a bond issue; funded in turn by higher taxes. He viewed such wanton destruction as a fair price for preservation of window dressing.

By unanimous vote, the council agreed.

Web sites to see

Though limited by hunt-and-peck typing, TheRaven flies fast in the digital realm. I've found a few websites worthy of interest. There's no theme here other than user interaction. This post covers blogs, movies, games and the most interesting automotive start-up company you've never heard of.

BLOGS - there's a bazillion blogs out there, including this one. Some of the more intelligent and thoughtful blogs seem to attract the biggest groups of nitwits. The New York Times climate blog a case in point. TheAtlantic's culture editor, Ta-Nehisi Coates, maintains a blog noteworthy for: (1) highly educated audience; (2) frequent discussion of history; (3) skill, background and interests of Mr. Coates; (4) thorough nitwit thrashing when they dare show up . Click here for the best blog TheRaven has found thus far.

GAMES - Armorgames is the best of many sites offering free Flash games. Flash games fall into well-defined categories, such as tower defense and shooter. When the inherent limitations of Flash games lose their charm, check out Steam, a site that sells computer games and hosts multi-player interaction. Advances in game technology made 3-5 years ago created highly regarded games that Steam now sells for cheap, as well as more current titles sold at higher, but generally discounted, prices.

Three noteworthy games for $10 or less:

• Silent Hunter III - this submarine warfare simulation is extraordinary. Developed by Unisoft (in Romania!), Silent Hunter III may be the best of its kind, perhaps eclipsing versions IV and V. A review of Silent Hunter III at subsim.org explains why. Pilot one of dozens of U-boat variants in several possible missions or participate with other players. Realistic to a fault, Silent Hunter III is an example of the worth of excellent games, for example, by providing a hands-on demonstration of why the model XXI U-boat was a super-weapon. You just can't get such understanding from a book. Camera functionality allows you to fly around the battle space in real time. For only $6.69 (current sale price), it simply can't be beat.
• Company of Heroes - one of the best in the strategy genre, this WW2 era game has a Metascore of 92. Excellent graphics and a well-developed tutorial get novices up to speed quickly. Only $9.99.
• Rome: Total War - this game, like Silent Hunter III and Company of Heros, appears on some "best ever" lists. It's a strategy game with similar functionality to Company of Heroes, but a bit more dependent on keyboard commands. It also has a Metascore of 92 and costs $9.99, which makes it a no-brainer. Company of Heroes has a cleaner interface. Silent Hunter III's interface borrows directly from the real McCoy.

MOVIES - we all like movies, how'd you like to make a cartoon? This funny clip (language NSFW) makes fun of the iPhone and was made using Xtranormal, a website that provides "text-to-movie" functionality. Ever wanted to script the Northern Nitwit's true "thoughts"? Now you can.

AUTOS - battery-dependent vehicles are getting all the press in yet another example of media myopia. The same lithium-based battery technology which has worked poorly in generations of laptop computers is now hyped as the salvation of planet Earth. A new report from the UK suggests that battery-powered cars will depreciate to only 10% of their new value after just five years. Limited battery longevity and high replacement cost are the unsurprising issues here. Considering the comparatively high cost of electric vehicles (roughly 2x of a comparatively-equipped gas engine model) depreciation issues will restrict appeal to eco-vanity buyers. This suggests that Tesla may be well-positioned in the short-term but fast-depreciating products will forestall development of next-gen electric power. Chrysler provides a telling lesson. The high depreciation rates of its vehicles fed a vicious cycle of diminishing sales and R&D curtailment. There are two other problems: (1) focus on electric propulsion distracts support from bio-diesel development; (2) increasing consumption of lithium creates growing dependence on Boliva and potentially Afghanistan.

An obscure start-up with a fascinating product waits to be discovered. This company relies on crowd-sourced design. Buyers pony up $50,000 and must participate in vehicle assembly. Sounds crazy! Have a look at the finished product before we examine its specs...

Welcome to Local Motors, home of the Rally fighter, a fully off-road capable, road-legal, emissions-compliant car. At first blush, Local Motors seems like one of many, niche auto builders, perhaps a step above a pure custom shop. And who really needs a $50,000, 2-seat car with 18" wheel travel?

The Rally Fighter features tubular steel construction with carbon fiber panels. It has a 6.2 liter V8, so fuel economy isn't a selling point. The Rally Fighter uses a vinyl skin in lieu of body paint. Most people don't need such a vehicle, but Local Motors' open business model creates intriguing possibilities for variants with wider appeal:

• Price vs. volume -$50,000 is a product of very low production volume. As of this writing, Local Motors has taken only 105 orders for the Rally Fighter. This means that even a modest sale to a government agency or two would jack production volumes into a declining price curve. The Rally Fighter looks tailor-made for border patrol work and its use of vinyl skin means that it could be specialized for law enforcement, e.g., in desert cammo.

• Design vs. fuel efficiency - the 6.2 liter V8 is a recent change. Local Motors featured an inline-6 from BMW several months ago. That engine produced impressive fuel economy. The point here is that design flexibility begets efficiency options. The Rally Fighter and the Jetta TDI both weigh about 3,200 pounds. This suggests that a non-competition, much higher-efficiency version could be accomplished using Volkswagon's new-generation, 4-cylinder diesel. This version would appeal to government agencies that need both off-road capability and fuel economy, such as the Park Service, perhaps the Postal Service and private industry customers such as oil-field service, surveying, engineering and construction firms.

• Fixed vs. variable labor - the owner participation aspect of Local Motor's model is cute but it won't scale. The Border Patrol isn't about to detail a bunch of its agents to assemble a few hundred Rally Fighters. This may explain why Local Motor's site doesn't report any venture capital investors (despite having an innovative product, good management team and advisory boards). The site mentions "18 investors" in passing, a sure sign Local Motors is funded by angel investors. The owner-assembly model is a clever tactic for lowering fixed labor costs in a cash-poor start-up but it must be supplemented by contractual relationships with automotive manufacturers that can handle final assembly tasks in volume. This would leverage Local Motor's inherent strength, design innovation coupled with component flexibility, to enable multi-unit sales that will in turn enable wider market appeal.

• No dealer network - Local Motors has wisely avoided a big chunk of overhead by skipping the middle-man and selling direct. The site makes decent use of an online community but in the early going, Local Motors remains obscure.

• Open source design - Local Motors runs car design competitions but misses a trick by ignoring a design community of graphic artists. A vinyl body skin is a graphic design canvas. Local Motors should create another design competition just for skin graphics. This would create publicity and increase the odds of viral awareness by attracting a much bigger group than auto body designers.

Local motors needs publicity, the kind that only Hollywood can bestow. Adam Aircraft's innovative designs were certainly better known after its A500 appeared in Miami Vice.

Unfortunately for Adam, it needed investment funds just as air transport industries entered a multi-year retrenchment period. Adam subsequently filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations in 2009. Local Motors needs its own version of Michael Mann before the next auto industry convulsion. It's vinyl body skins are a big selling point here, tailor-made for Hollywood adaptation.

Is R&D off-shoring killing us?

Richard Florida asks a few questions about R&D off-shoring trends in this post at theAtlantic.

TheRaven ran a quick test to gauge whether R&D off-shoring has caused measurable harm to the U.S. economy. The operative question is whether the economic subset associated with innovation is growing faster or slower than the labor market as a whole. Jobs associated with R&D should grow if the innovation process is out-pacing the economy and compensating for off-shoring. Conversely, if R&D employment is falling, then increased R&D off-shoring can be viewed as an existential threat, not the more benign balancing of national strengths in a global economy.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) occupation employment data was used to address this question. The BLS publishes pay range and employment data for a constant list of 800 occupations, each May. I have this data by 4-digit NAICS (North America Industry Classification System) code for 2005 through 2009. The BLS publishes data one year after it's initially collected, so, for example, the May 2010 database reports labor market conditions as of May 2009.

There are 47 occupations that can be reasonably associated with R&D - nearly all of the scientific and engineering occupations. Most people in these occupations are not devoted to R&D because R&D is typically just a few percentage points of an overall organization budget. There are exceptions, such as contract research firms, academic labs, etc., but we're dealing with occupation data across the U.S. economy. Looking at these 47 occupations should provide a decent proxy measure, especially given consideration of: (1)  labor market contraction between 2008 and 2009, and that (2) R&D is a well-known budget casualty in tough times.

Findings:

1. From 2005 through 2009:

a) The 18 science occupations had a +15% aggregate employment gain. Fourteen of 18 occupations had higher employment levels in 2009, vs. 2005.

b) The 29 engineering occupations had a +7% aggregate employment gain. Twenty-three of 29 occupations had higher employment levels in 2009, vs. 2005.

c) All 47 occupations had a +9% aggregate employment gain. Thirty-seven of 47 occupations had higher employment levels in 2009. The overall gain was 164,900 jobs.

2. Between 2008 and 2009:

a) The 18 science occupations had a +1.5% aggregate employment gain. Eleven of 18 occupations had higher employment levels in 2009, vs. 2008.

b) The 29 engineering occupations had a (1%) aggregate employment loss. Sixteen of 29 occupations had higher employment levels in 2009, vs. 2008.

c) All 47 occupations had (0.4%) aggregate employment loss. Twenty-seven of 47 occupations had higher employment levels in 2009, vs. 2008. The net loss was (8,370) jobs.

This group of occupations did better than the labor market as a whole over the 2005-2009 period and especially between 2008 and 2009. BLS data represents the bulk of the US labor market. The NAICS data-sets exclude only farming, domestic help and freelancers.

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Conclusion: while the labor market data is broad-brush, employment trends in occupations associated with R&D run counter to adverse macroeconomic circumstance and suggest that increased R&D off-shoring has not materially affected U.S. R&D-associated employment. Therefore, it's not likely that the off-shoring trend discussed in theAtlantic piece has inflicted meaningful harm on the U.S. economy.

PS - this look at employment trends and pay range patterns in four selected science occupations provides further information:

Density of Earnings

Richard Florida wrote The Creative Class, founded a similarly-named consulting firm and writes a column for theAtlantic.com. Rob Pitingolo is a recent college grad who analyzed the geographic density of bachelor's and graduate degree holders in 52 major cities. Florida recently featured Rob's analysis in a piece titled The Density of Smart People.

Rob's file was made available for download from theAtlantic.com. TheRaven modified Rob's work by adding BLS occupational pay data. The modified file (which was returned to Rob and Richard) demonstrates various degrees of correlation between the geographic concentration of degree holders and higher earnings for almost all occupations that require higher education, and also for many that do not.

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UPDATE: you can download the Excel file used to produce all charts in this post. The file is stored at Docstoc, download it for free here. Zero Excel skills are required. The file is operated only with a mouse. Excel2007 or Excel2010 is required.
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This post looks at ten occupations - five that require higher education and five that do not. Each series is presented in order of most-to-least correlation between degree density and occupation earnings. The BLS tracks 800 occupations, so the 10 presentations in this post are illustrative but not representative. The modified analysis allows user selection of a specific point on the BLS pay range. All presentations here use mean pay data.

Click any image to see it full-size.

A. Higher education required - 1. Chemistry Teachers, post-secondary

A. Higher education required - 2. IT Managers

A. Higher education required - 3. Graphic Designers

A. Higher education required - 4. Civil Engineers

A. Higher education required - 5. Primary Care Physicians

B. Higher education not required - 1. Electricians

B. Higher education not required - 2. Plumbers

B. Higher education not required - 3. Real Estate Agents

B. Higher education not required - 4. Fire Fighters

B. Higher education not required - 5. Letter Carriers

After testing dozens of occupations across their pay range, very few were noted to show minimal or inverse correlation with degree density. Higher concentrations of educated people seem to benefit everyone.

A meaningless victory

Rand Paul's Kentucky win is being booted around the dumbisphere and Atlantic correspondent Joshua Green weighs in here with a decent but incomplete analysis. Green is an earnest sort, seems like your typical, bright, well-educated, liberal / progressive journalist. Ironic that this representative of the so-called elitist class, in explaining why Rand Paul signifies nothing, forgot that education is biggest reason why.

In Kentucky's case, lack thereof.

Kentucky is a poorly educated state. Kentucky has the highest ratio of people over 65 who didn't complete high school (42%) and big chunk of that group didn't make it past the ninth grade. Older, uneducated white people are the big, fat core of the Beck/Palin/Limbaugh/Coulter/name-your-dumbass demographic.

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How uneducated is Kentucky?
 
* Dropouts - Kentucky has the 3rd highest ratio of high school dropouts in the adult (18+) population. Only Texas and Mississippi are worse.

* College graduates - Kentucky has the 4th worst ratio of college graduates in the adult (18+) population. Only Louisiana, Arkansas and West Virginia are worse. (Ratio includes people whose educational attainment stops at an associates degree).

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This is not to say that Kentucky isn't making progress. In the 18-24 age group, Kentucky improves by 10 positions in higher education attainment and by 12 positions in the dropout ratio, vs. the all-adults averages.

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There's a similar picture 25-34 age group, as Kentucky improves by 5 positions in higher education attainment and by 16 positions in the dropout ratio.

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 The 35-44 age group is only slightly better than average for all Kentucky adults.

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Education attainment in older groups of working-age adults falls like a rock: almost 20% of Kentuckians aged 45-64 didn't graduate high school and only 27% have a college degree, vs. (for example) 40% in North Dakota.

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The data show that Kentucky adults are significantly less-educated than the national average. The difference between Kentucky and more developed states, typically in the northeast, is stark.

Therefore, a huge reason why tea bagger "success" will be hard to repeat outside of states where uneducated white people have undue influence is that they will not benefit from a preponderance of credulous adults, primed by lack of education to swallow Faux drivel.

(Analysis by TheRaven, Data source - U.S. Census Bureau)