WATERDOG
Gemini
HDF Silver Supporter
Don't Bother Me, I'm in Havi
 
MENIFEE, CA
Posts: 10,292
APPD 1.60
Post Rank: 8
ELIMINATOR EAGLE
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Posted: Dec. 09 2008,5:39 pm |
Post # 1 |
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Lake Havasu City has topped a list it probably would rather have stayed off of: worst-educated city.
When Forbes magazine released its annual rankings of the U.S.’s best- and worst-educated cities last week, Lake Havasu City appeared as number one in the “worst†category. The story was accompanied by a postcard view of Bridgewater Channel and the London Bridge.
To be accurate, the Forbes ranking applies to the Lake Havasu City-Kingman metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Mohave County.
Forbes based its rankings on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2007 American Community Survey, which found that the percentage of people age 25 and over in the county who held a bachelor’s degree or higher was 11.5 percent. That number was 25.3 percent for the state of Arizona and 27.5 percent for the nation.
“Whether it’s 10 percent or 13 percent, the point is that it’s low and the question is what are we going to do about that?†Lake Havasu Unified School District Superintendent Gail Malay said.
“I just think our community needs to understand we have to work on that because we’re never going to attract the kind of businesses we want without at least some college-educated workforce,†she said.
Kearns attributed the county’s low college graduation rate to several factors, including educational funding that’s ranked near the bottom of states for years, and the region’s dependence on industries — such as hospitality and recreation — that don’t have a place for college-educated people.
“The lower rankings historically say a lot about the economic climate in the area, the jobs in the area, all the things that go with higher education... For master’s (degree) level people, there’re hardly any jobs here,†Kearns said.
The lack of college-educated residents in turn discourages industries that employ those workers from relocating to the county, Kearns said.
Worst-educated
1. Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Ariz.
2. Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, N.J.
3. Merced, Calif.
4. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
5. Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La.
6. Yuma, Ariz.
7. Bakersfield, Calif.
8. Ottawa-Streator, Ill.
9. Fort Smith, Ark.-Okla.
10. McAllen-Edinburg, Mission, Texaswors
"Damn you sure know how to fock things up."-GFR
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11-24-2024 Three Word Post.....The Next Generation.... (Rep.#19,435) from: BigDog
Wonder what's the dealio for Mojave County... 
Ya gotta have some smarts to brew meth... 
