Value of a College Degree
As of 2014, 43.5 percent of Hawaii’s working age adults (ages 25–64) held a two‐ or four‐year degree, according to U.S. Census data.
Of Hawai’i’s working age adults with a college degree, what is the breakdown by degree type?
Of Hawai’i’s working age adults, what is the breakdown of those without a college degree?
How is education related to earnings and unemployment?
Note: Data are for persons age 25 and over. Earnings are for full-time wage and salary workers.
How is education related to earning potential long term?
Note: Synthetic work-life earnings represent expected earnings over a 40-year time period for the population aged 25-64 who maintain full-time, year-round employment the entire time. Calculations are based on median annual earnings from a single point in time for eight 5-year age groups and multiplied by five.
Perception of a college degree
In Hawai’i, what is the perception of a college degree in today’s job market?
As of Winter 2016, the percentage of Hawai’i adults polled statewide who said a college degree is an ABSOLUTE necessity increased slightly to 45% from Summer of 2015.
In 2013‐2014 school year, 65% of 3rd graders in HIDOE were considered proficient in reading by end of third grade (i.e. reading at grade level).
How are Hawai’i public school students performing on proficiency tests in 3rd grade?
Overall, proficiency levels have been on an upward trend until this past year. The gap between students proficient in Reading and those proficient in Math are narrowing and there’s been some improvement in 3rd grade Math test scores over the past few years. A primary measure of a student’s future success is reading at grade level by 3rd grade. In 2013-14, 65% of Hawai’i public school students were proficient in reading.
How are Hawai’i public school students performing on proficiency tests over time?
While the gap between Reading and Math proficiency in the 3rd grade has narrowed (graph above), the gap widens as students progress to higher grade levels. The gap between Reading and Math proficiency was 9.1% in SY2007-08 for grade 3, 16.9% in SY2009-10 for grade 5, and 11.3% in SY2013-14 for grade 8. The 5th and 8th grade HSA results were for the school years in which students in the 3rd grade in SY2007-08 would have taken the exam if they had on-grade level promotions each year.