Monday, March 28, 2005 | 11:08 a.m.
More Nevada residents have high school and college diplomas, according to U.S. Census data for 2004 released this morning.
The country as a whole also reported record highs for the number of students earning academic degrees.
Nevada moved up significantly in the national rankings for the percentage of adults over age 25 who have a bachelor's degree or higher. The state was ranked 47 among the states in that category in 2003 but was 35 in 2004 according to the latest ranking.
With 24.5 percent of the 1.46 million adults in the state reporting to have a college degree, Nevada is still below the national average of 28 percent, according to the Census data. But in the last five years, the state has gradually closed the gap, as only 19.3 percent of Nevadans over age 25 reported having bachelor's degrees in 2000.
The percentage of Nevadans older than 25 with a high school degree or higher is above the national average for the second year in a row, with 86.3 percent having attained a diploma in Nevada compared with 85 percent nationally.
University system programs like the Millennium Scholarships are helping to up the college degree-rate, but system officials say the current upward climb is more due to an influx of educated people moving into the state.
Nevada is one of the top importers in the country of educated people between 25 and 39, Chris Chairsell, interim vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, said. Nevada ranked first and Las Vegas ranked second in the nation in importing college graduates according to 2000 Census data.
"We have a pretty good migration of young, college-educated people coming in," said Chairsell, who credited the Nevada Development Authority for bringing in more high tech businesses to the state.
But Chairsell said the University and Community College System of Nevada's efforts to encourage students to go to college, including helping them find financial aid and improving student services once they are in the door, will go a long way to continuing the current trend.
"If everything we are doing pays off," Chairsell said, "... We are going to see that participation increase."
The Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education also predicts that Nevada will see a 125 percent increase in its college enrollment over the next 15 years as more students graduate from high school.
According to Fall 2004 enrollment data, the system currently educates more than 98,000 students at seven institutions, including more than 26,160 at UNLV, 34,650 at the Community College of Southern Nevada and 1,100 at Nevada State College in Henderson.
Somer Hollingsworth, president and chief executive officer for the NDA, said he thought the new Census numbers were a combination of increased efforts at the university system and of importing college-educated persons into the state.
The state's long term economic success will be dependent on the university system' ability to train and keep workers here, Hollingsworth said.
"Great companies and great jobs usually revolve around a great education system," Hollingsworth said.
The state benefits economically and socially from a more educated workforce, Chairsell and Hollingsworth, said. It helps organizations like the Nevada Development Authority attract more businesses to the state and makes the degrees of local students more valuable. College-educated people also typically have more buying power and are more active in the community.
In Nevada, those with a bachelor's degree earn double what someone with just a high school diploma makes, according to "The Investment Payoff," a recent report by the Institute of Higher Education Policy. Pulling from the 2004 Census data, the report found that a Nevadan with a bachelor's degree earns about $53,000 a year, compared with $26,000 for someone with a high school degree.
A Nevadan with an associate's degree typically brings in about 30 percent more than someone with just a high school diploma, or $34,000 a year. Individuals with master's degrees earn $64,000 a year on average.
National earnings estimates followed similar patterns, according to the 2004 Census data. Nationwide, those without even a high school diploma averaged about $18,734 a year.
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