Smartest State rankings 2004-2005
 

Inspired by SDChiefsFans thread about public education...

States Ranked: Smartest to Dumbest

The smartest state in the union for the second consecutive year is Massachusetts.

The dumbest, for the third year in a row, is New Mexico.

These are the findings of the Education State Rankings, a survey by Morgan Quitno Press of hundreds of public school systems in all 50 states. States were graded on a variety of factors based on how they compare to the national average. These included such positive attributes as per-pupil expenditures, public high school graduation rates, average class size, student reading and math proficiency, and pupil-teacher ratios. States received negative points for high drop-out rates and physical violence.

How does YOUR state rank?

1. Massachusetts
2. Connecticut
3. Vermont
4. New Jersey
5. Wisconsin
6. New York
7. Minnesota
8. Iowa
9. Pennsylvania
10. Montana


11. Maine
12. Virginia
13. Nebraska
14. New Hampshire
15. Kansas
16. Wyoming
17. Indiana
18. Maryland
19. North Dakota
20. Ohio


21. Colorado
22. South Dakota
23. Rhode Island
24. Illinois
25. North Carolina
26. Missouri
27. Delaware
28. Utah
29. Idaho
30. Washington


31. Michigan
32. South Carolina
33. Texas and West Virginia (tie)
35. Oregon
36. Arkansas
37. Kentucky
38. Georgia
39. Florida
40. Oklahoma


41. Tennessee
42. Hawaii
43. California
44. Alabama
45. Alaska
46. Louisiana
47. Mississippi
48. Arizona
49. Nevada
50. New Mexico

http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm

Interesting.

According to what I can find, about the time that my ex-wife moved back east, Missouri jumped from 34 to 26 and Virginia fell from 6 to 12.

Coincidence?

I think not.

We're the best of the bottom half!

YAAAAAYY!

We're #15, solid considering some of the Western parts (no offence to anyone).

Oh and there's no way Texas is 33. Should be at least 48. Dammit Bush! :cuss:

Yay! We're not last!

Wait... when you throw Nashville and Knoxville into the mix, how in the hell are we NOT last?

Hmmm, Endelt?

They'd probably be about 48 if he was still there.

ROFL

I used to live in Iowa. The school was a LOT tougher than missouri's. Just my 2 cents.

Southerners are stupid...that comes as a huge suprise. In other news, water is wet.

hey, all I'm saying is the most northern state in the US is in the bottom 10. :shrug: :)

The Pastor keeps moving and changing the rankings.

#15 Kansas

#26 Missouri

Heh heh.

Can't believe Iowa is #8. They'd probably take the top 4 places had a certain member on this board not lived there.

:KU: > :mizzou:

Problem is most people out here are Cowboy fans. The more Chiefs fans we get out here, the higher we climb!

Errrm #48?

I feel insulted.

Actually, we are 11 spots ahead of Missouri INSPITE of that town and school.

Pretty remarkable.

I'm sure California would have been higher if the poll were conducted bi-lingually and each question was prefaced with, "Dude,". I wouldn't be suprised if the poll was culturally biased against surfers!

:p

-HH

Nah we'd be ahead by 18 if it wasn't for :ksu:

Wild.

Bob Dole knows one of the company founders. Maybe he can tell Bob Dole how per-pupil expenditures qualify students as "smart."

Were it not for KSU, we'd be down 10.

Oh yeah, I'm sure the Agriculture School pundits are bringing us up, LMAO. Besides, you have to be more original than simply contradicting what I say.

Probably doesn't hurt that Morgan Quitno Press is a Kansas company, either. :)

Bob Dole, I think you might be the only smart Texan I've ever seen. Must feel nice. You guys still should be in the bottom 5, no offense.

Okay...any list that has West Virginia ranked that high has gotta be flawed...

(insert the theme from Deliverance here...)

I was waiting for that....RIGHT on brutha!

That's probably because Bob Dole isn't really a Texan, but a transplant from Masach...er, Massachoo...er, Massachuz...er, somewhere else.

Top Scholar Rankings - Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, Udall scholarships

1986-2004

Public colleges and universities
state-supported schools

1. K-State
2. Penn State
3. U. of North Carolina
4. Arizona State
5. Gay U
6. University of Virginia
7. University of Illinois
8. University of Michigan
9. Monatana State
10. Berkeley


Top Scholar Rankings - Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, Udall scholarships

1986-2004

Public and private universities

1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Princeton
4. Stanford
5. Duke
6. Brown
7. K-State
8. Cornell
9. Chicago
10. MIT


KSU is not just some backwater country school house, they have an excellent educational program.

Original enough for you?

Considering we are 51st in teacher pay, and we have one of the lowest per cent of college degreed citizens in the country (bottom ten), I'd say 22nd is respectable.

Nice bang for the buck, I guess. :hmmm:

Probably doesn't hurt. However there is no doubt in my mind that we rank abouve Missouri (sorry Senator).

Oh yeah, U R pwnd.

It is true! I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. I moved to North Carolina 4 1/2 years ago. It was like moving to a new country. I love the weather and most of the people, but it is a bit slower. There's even no such thing as fast food. Plan on spending a half hour minimum in the drive thru at McDonalds even it's it's not busy. I think the problem is that most southeners are more worried about the silly war of northern aggression than education and entertainment.

They'd probably tell us if it was true...

I do almost daily! :)

The reason Kansas is ranked higher than Missouri is bc in Missouri we have St. Louis.

Jamie....

Told ya so.

Heh, I really needed no convincing. ;)

What happened to our little gay bird? Probably off checking to see if the numbers I posted were accurate.

Pour soul is in for a real disappointment.

I think if WSU didn't exist our numbers would improve slightly.

W = Wichita or Washburn?

Wichita State University.

(waits for Braincase)

missouri is ranked way too high.

"But this is supposed to be our year"!!!

I know three people here in Colorado who I bet singlehandedly drove Colorado down from 19 to 21.

Haha, nah dude, I actually went out for a few hours, now I'm back home to study. But, yeah I'd like to see a link or something, I mean it's kinda hard to just buy some random facts you are stating.

All I know is that KU is the 3rd best buy in the nation among public schools according to Fisk's guide (I'm not sure aout the title, but I saw it in the book this year, it's legit). And since it costs MORE than KSU and still is a MUCH BETTER buy tells me a something. Also, half my friends went to KSU so I kind of know what's it like, sucks for them.

We are also ranked 94th in the list of 130 top schools in the nation, KSU is not on the list... ( http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/col...udoc_brief.php )

I'll give KSU this, though, they do have a good engineering and agriculture schools.

PS Did you even go/are goig to KSU?

If you've ever driven in Pennsylvania you'd know that #9 ranking is based solely on the fact that we have Penn, Penn State, and Pitt. The people here are not all that bright.

I've seen his figures before, and i've seen yours. They are pretty different in their fields of study..no comparison IMO.

Geez, New Mexico's been at #50 for the past three years...they suck at existence.

I think it is because Iowa only has about thousand students total and half are Mormans..

With apologies to philfree, this #47 ranking is the highest ranking I've ever seen for Mississippi on a ranking of positive attributes.

A few of us have actually seen that in action.

All that tells me is that K-State has an excellent scholarship application assistance program. You really don't think that K-State and ASU are all-around better schools than Michigan and UVA, do you? And Montana State over Cal? ROFL

Says the KU student....;)

Hey, I went to the number four public school in the land for undergrad. :p

Probably the same year the Princeton Review named them the #1 party school in America, correct?

One particular CP member is probably solely responsible for keeping Oregon out of the top twenty.... :hmmm:

I'll give you a couple of examples:

You are nearing your exit ramp on a 4 lane highway. Do you:

A. Maintain speed, turn on signal and decelerate AFTER you have left the flow of highway traffic.
B. Slow down to about 45 mphwhile still in the flow of highway traffic, jerk your wheel suddenly upon encountering your exit, and continue to decelerate down the ramp so that by the time you reach the stop sign/light, it would have taken just as much time to get off at the next exit and double back.

In PA that answer is B.

It is foggy outside, but still daylight and visibility is about a mile. Do you:

A. Turn on your headlights so that other motorists can see you, even though you can seemingly see just fine.

B. Not turn on your lights because you can see, why turn on your lights, it's light outside?

In PA, of course the answer is B.

You are driving on a 4 lane highway with light traffic. Which lane is the appropriate lane to drive in:

A. The right lane, because there is a freaking law in PA that says you have to drive in the right lane unless you are passing.

B. Drive in the left lane, matching the speed of every slow ass mother f'er in the right lane, thus blocking all traffic for a mile behind you, and subsequently making no effort to increase your speed long enough to get around the slow people in the right lane and let the furious guy in the Jeep behind you pass you you fucking DOUCHE BAG!

Once again, the answer in PA is B.

And finally:

4 cars pull up to a 4 way stop sign at approximately the same time. Do you:

A. Take charge and cross the intersection first.
B. Sit and stare at each other for up to 10 minutes, everyone trying to wave the next person through because you're too stupid to realize that if you pull out first, no one is going to ram their car into yours, and if they do, you pulled into the intersection first and you had 2 other witnesses to verify that.

Once again, in PA, it's B.

Actually, I was there when Playboy ranked us number one (2002). http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/playboy.asp

I don't even think we made the Princeton Review list at all when I was there.

I have to agree. I lived in Northeastern Pennsylvania for 31 years. Some of the rural people make the southern rednecks look like scholars. And the Amish in Central PA, well we won't go there! Evertime I get called a yankee from Pennsylvania, I suggest my southern friends take a ride through Amish country.

Who woulda thought that some people from NE PA would'nt compare favorably to rednecks? :shrug:

8th my ass...

No.

Here's the link for the numbers. If you want it confirmed froma more independant source, knock yourself out.

http://www.mediarelations.ksu.edu/WE...entsindex.html

Here is a link from that page that lists some other achievements. And I post it despite the last "achievement" they have listed.

Unless I am mistaken, the students still have to meet certain standards to be accepted. Only a chickenhawker (uh, or a tigger)...... :rolleyes:

Would you rate Iowa higher or lower?

I personally believe public education in this state leaves ALOT to be desired.

Higher. Below New Jersey and New York? C'mon...

Although, as usual, Kerry will carry this state and I guess that explains a lot...

The education here is just so mediocre. No we don't have huge problems with illiteracy or drop-outs.

But we don't produce many hyper-intelligent future Ivy League prospects either...

a) We used to have the best educated high school kids in the country, IIRC

b) Speak for yourself. :P

Mormons?
Anyone wondering abour MO's low number? Blame Valiant. He may be single-handedly bringing you down two spots.

:thumb:

Only #15?
 

a) based on a test that was developed in IOWA :D

b) I meant other than myself. :p

Yeah, Valiant thinks Iowa is the "potato state".