staff report

A new study lists Florida on the tail end of a ranking for most educated states in the U.S., while the quality of its university system is ranked in the top 10.

According to the study from WalletHub, a personal finance website, Florida is ranked 32nd in the nation for high school diploma holders, 33rd in number of associates degree holders, 31st in number of bachelor’s degree holders and 29th in graduate or professional degree holders.

This puts Florida on the low end of the ranking, according to the study. Together with its low median income ranking (38th in the nation), Florida is among the least educated and poorest states in the country.

For its methodology, WalletHub said it looked at factors including share of adults aged 25 or older with diplomas or degrees, quality of school systems, public high school graduation rates and share of 2016 high school classes scoring a “three” or higher on advanced placement exams.

The study also looked at racial and gender gaps in educational attainment. Florida ranked 27th in racial gap in educational attainment, which looked at the number of black bachelor’s degree holders compared to their white counterparts, and 44th in gender gap, which looked at number of female bachelor’s degree holders compared to their male counterparts.

In a bright spot, Florida ranked ninth in average university quality. The methodology for that ranking included number of enrollees at top universities, college graduation rate and projected college graduation rates through 2020.