Young Michiganders are more educated than ever before

Jeff Fuentes Gleghorn // Tri-City Record

Young people in Michigan are more likely to graduate from high school, get their GED, and graduate from college than ever before. In 2000, only 83 percent of people over the age of 25 had completed high school or their GED. 20 years later, that number has risen to 91 percent. This year is the first time that Michigan has had over 90 percent of its residents graduate from high school. The Great Lakes State is doing slightly better than the United States, which has an overall 88 percent graduation rate, up from 80 percent in 2000.

Kalamazoo County is doing better than the state average in high school graduation, with nearly 94 percent of residents having completed high school or their GED. It is also ahead in college education, with just shy of 39 percent of residents holding a college degree, compared to 29 percent of Michiganders and 32 percent of U.S. residents generally.

Reprinted from the Tri-City Record