Education

Educational Attainment

Educational Attainment

An educated population is one of the most important components of a vital, healthy region. Almost 85 percent of adults in the Hampton Roads region have at least a high school degree and almost 24 percent have at least a Bachelor's degree.

Why is This Important?

Educational attainment measures the educational level of people living in a particular area. It is a long-term indicator of the investment that a region has made in developing and attracting human capital. This indicator provides a "big picture" assessment of the region's quality of life, workforce preparedness and economic potential.

How is Hampton Roads Doing?

According to the 2009 American Community Survey, 88.3 percent of the Hampton Roads region's population 25 years and older had at least a high school diploma over the 2005-2009 period, which was the second highest rate in the state; 27.2 percent had a bachelor's degree or higher, which was the third highest in the state. The Northern region had the highest percentage of high school graduates at 91.0 percent and college graduates at 51.8 percent, while the state's averages were 85.8 percent and 33.4 percent, respectively. 

These numbers represent an increase across the board from 2000 U.S. Census figures:  The Eastern, Southside and Southwest regions saw high school attainment averages jump as much as 8 and 9 percentage points during 2005-2009, while the Hampton Roads, Central, Valley and West Central regions increased 4 or 5 points during the same period.

When comparing across metropolitan statistical areas (MSA), Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC (Hampton Roads' MSA) has maintained a solid performance, ranking first among its peers in the percentage of residents earning high school diplomas (89.4 percent) in 2009. It ranked fifth in the percentage of people age 25 and above holding at least a Bachelor's degree at 27.2 percent (up from 23.7 percent in 2000), behind the MSAs in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-MD-VA-WV; Raleigh-Cary, NC; Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC; and Jacksonville, FL.  Overall, Hampton Roads and its peer MSA groups have seen modest but steady improvement in high school and bachelor degree attainment rates since 2000.

However, the Hampton Roads MSA lags behind both the leading MSA for the state and the state average in advanced degrees.  With 22.6 percent of its residents holding either a Master's, Professional or Doctorate degree, the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA has more than double the 10 percent rate of the Hampton Roads MSA. Within Virginia, 14.1 percent of the population age 25 and older has an advanced degree.  Since 2000, these achievement rates -- both positive and negative -- among MSA groups have varied only modestly.

What Influences Educational Attainment?

A number of factors influence educational attainment, including availability of educational services, the quality of those services, responsiveness of educational institutions to the particular needs of a community or region, affordability, regional culture, economic opportunity, and migration into and out of the region.