Fifty years of data show states with rising education attainment saw the largest income gains, highlighting higher ed’s role in economic growth. 

The data comes from an Urban Institute brief exploring whether states are better off now than they were 50 years ago. Between 1970 and 2023, every state except West Virginia had an increase in inflation-adjusted median household income, the Urban Institute found. Midwestern states in the Great Lakes region experienced the least income growth while Western states, New England, Texas, and Florida saw the most significant growth.

Increased education attainment and increases in the percentage of immigrants in a state’s population were the two factors most closely associated with household income growth, the report said. All states saw a sizable increase in bachelor’s degree holders over the 50-year period studied.

The report cited several possible reasons for the connection between degree attainment and income growth: bachelor’s degree holders earn higher wages, higher paying jobs could attract degree holders into these states, and out-of-state college students may decide to stay after graduation.

“Whichever way you slice it, higher education is a vital part of driving state economies, and should be valued accordingly,” the National College Attainment Network said in a post about the findings. 

📚 Read more: Nearly half of Texas high school students who earn college credits are Hispanic, study says (via our partner The Texas Tribune) 

📚 Read more: Recent high school graduates and older students are enrolling at Colorado’s community colleges at higher rates (via our partner Chalkbeat Colorado) 

This pattern likely won’t surprise readers of this newsletter. At Open Campus, we talk often about how colleges are economic engines. This belief is core to our new community college accountability initiative: 8.5 million Americans bet their futures on community colleges every year and the sector deserves hard-hitting, thorough coverage. When these institutions fail students, entire communities lose pathways to prosperity. 

The report also refutes the idea that low taxes and warm climates lead to prosperity — two components often cited as reasons for the population growth in the Sun Belt. Instead, policymakers should promote higher-wage sectors, grow talent through education and workforce training, and recruit an international talent pool, the report said. 

📚 Read more: What Ohioans say would make them trust public universities more (via our partner Signal Ohio) 

But as higher ed is called on to train future workers, there are also headwinds, as explored in new survey data from Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resource Research. While most respondents trust universities to deliver a good education, fewer than half said they trust universities to do so without political bias.

“If the public doubts the neutrality of instruction, it can erode confidence across other areas, even where outcomes (like graduation or job placement) are strong,” said the researchers, led by Steve Gavazzi, the center’s director. 

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Elsewhere on Open Campus

From Indianapolis: A new Deaf education master’s program at Butler University could lead to fewer deaf children learning to sign, Claire Rafford reports at our partner Mirror Indy. 

The program trains future educators how to teach speaking and listening to deaf children, particularly those who have cochlear implants. The curriculum includes only one American Sign Language Class, a one-credit course that teaches basic signs. 

Research is split on the best way to educate deaf children, whether through listening and spoken language, ASL, or a mix of both. 

“Some (deaf people) speak better than they sign, some sign better than they speak,” Geoffrey Bignell, director of advocacy for Indiana Association of the Deaf, said through an interpreter. “It’s very diverse, so providing everything is best, rather than limiting a professional who is going to be working in this environment.”

From Texas: Jessica Priest, our reporter at our partner The Texas Tribune spoke with more than a dozen Texas Tech faculty members over the past two months who said they were uncertain about how to respond to new state guidance dictating what they can teach about race, gender and sexuality.

“I can find very few examples of any faculty member — and I’m in touch with many of them — who have, like, in writing an administrator saying, ‘You cannot teach this,’” a humanities professor said. “But I’ve encountered many examples of administrators saying, ‘If I were you, I wouldn’t teach this, because that might cause a problem.’”

From Wisconsin: Miranda Dunlap, one of our pathways reporters at Wisconsin Watch, is moderating a conversation next week about the state’s 911 dispatcher shortage and what it takes to train more. Learn more and sign up here. 

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