Higher Education in the State of Massachusetts

Massachusetts can be considered to have a very highly-educated population, with 36.8 percent of the over 25 years old population having a Bachelors Degree or Higher, according to the 2005 American Community Survey. The State of Massachusetts has a higher percent of population with a BA or Higher percent than the average across the nation of 27.2 percent.

From 2000, the State of Massachusetts has increased in the total percent of the over 25 population having a Bachelors Degree or Higher. This population group has grown by 3.6 percent to a total of 36.8 percent in 2005, according to the American Community Survey. The 2005 proportion of highly educated population is greater than the national percent of 27.2.

According to the 2000 Census Decennial, the counties in the State of Massachusetts range, in terms of percent of population (over 25) with a Bachelors Degree or Higher, from a high of 43.6 percent in Middlesex County to a low of 19.8 percent in Bristol County.

The ten most highly-educated counties in Massachusetts
Percent of the population (over 25) holding a bachelors degree or higher

1. Middlesex County (43.6 percent)
2. Norfolk County (43 percent)
3. Nantucket County (38.4 percent)
4. Dukes County (38.4 percent)
5. Hampshire County (38 percent)
6. Barnstable County (33.6 percent)
7. Suffolk County (32.4 percent)
8. Essex County (31.2 percent)
9. Franklin County (29 percent)
10. Plymouth County (27.8 percent)


From 2000 to 2005, the percent of the male population that can be considered highly educated has increased by 2.8 percent. As reported in 2005, 37.8 percent of area's male population (+25) achieved a BA or Higher. During the same period, the percent of women (+25) that have earned a BA or higher has increased by a total of 4.6 percent. By 2005, a total of 36 percent of the female population had achieved this level of education.

In 2005, the American Community Survey reported that in the State of Massachusetts, a high proportion of the male population in the area have reached the Bachelors Degree or Higher category, with 37.8 percent receiving this level of education. The women in the Massachusetts have attainment on average a lower level of higher education (Bachelors Degree or Higher) than the male population-- 37.8 percent (Men) versus 36 percent (Women). A high proportion of the female population in the area has reached the Bachelors Degree or Higher category, with 36 percent of the women population in the area achieving this level of education.

In the State of Massachusetts as reported in the American Community Survey of the year 2005, 37.8 percent of the White Alone, 21 percent of Black or African American, 56.2 percent of the Asian alone and 16.6 percent of the Hispanic or Latino population, over the age 25, has achieved at least a Bachelors Degree.

Datasource: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2000 Decennial Census. 2005 American Community Survey.