The Beehive State is buzzing with college graduates.
New survey data once again rank Utah 17th in the nation with about 27.3 percent of its population 25 years and older, having earned a bachelor's or higher academic degree.
"It's good to be above the national average," said Dave Buhler, Utah System of Higher Education associate commissioner of public affairs. "But we need to do better."
The data come from U.S. Census Bureau numbers released this week. The national average, according to the 2002 American Community Survey, is 25.9 percent of a state's population having four-year degrees or more.
That means more earning potential for some.
"College graduates may expect to earn, on average, nearly $2.1 million in their lifetimes," Census Bureau director Louis Kincannon said in a press release. "That is nearly twice as much as those who have only high school diplomas."
In 2000, the survey ranked Utah 17th in the nation. In 2001, the state fell to 20th with an estimated 25.3 percent of the population over 25 holding at least a bachelor's degree. The 2002 survey puts Utah ahead of Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming. California, Washington and Colorado rank higher than Utah.
Unlike other reports, the Census Bureau survey factors by default Utah's high population of people who serve two-year missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then return to college for their degrees, sometimes finishing after age 25.
"I guess it could be a slight factor," Buhler said.
Work and family are also factors that can prolong a student's college career.
"I think there's no question that a lot of Utahns get married and start families at a younger age," he added.
An April 2004 report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education ranked Utah 31st in the nation in getting students to graduate from college. But the study assumed students were graduating with a bachelor's degree in six years or with an associate's degree within three.
Commissioner of Higher Education Rich Kendell told the Deseret Morning News last month that, despite Utah's cultural factors, schools need to focus more on retention to improve the state's college graduation rate.
The Census Bureau survey also ranked counties, listing Utah County 89th out of 231 counties for having the most college graduates with bachelor's degrees or better. The survey looked at cities and counties with populations of 250,000 or more.
Utah County placed 56th out of 216 counties surveyed in 2000 and was 115th out of 220 counties in 2001. In the last three years of survey data available, Salt Lake County, ranked 97th for 2002, has trailed behind Utah County.
Seattle, Raleigh, N.C., and San Francisco were the top three cities with the most college graduates. The survey did not list a Utah city in that category.
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com