Number of college graduates in Oxford County still lags behind national average

COUNTY —  In the past 30 years, the U.S. has witnessed a large increase of the number of people with college degrees, but rural areas, including Oxford County, have lagged behind.

According to an analysis of U.S. Census Data conducted by the Kentucky-based  non-profit Center for Rural Strategies, cities have almost tripled the number of people over 25 years of age with college degrees, from 11.60 percent in 1970 to 30 percent in 2010.

The national average has seen similar growth, rising from 10.7 percent in 1970 to 27.9 percent in 2010. The average in Maine, according to CRS, is 26.5 percent.

The number of college graduates in rural areas, however, remains low – 15.4 percent had a college degree in 2010 compared to 5.7 percent in 1970.

In Oxford County, the number of college graduates is slightly higher than the national average for rural areas –  18.5 percent, nearly a three-fold increase from 6.7 percent in 1970.

According to Judith Stallmann, an agriculture and applied economics professor at University of Missouri, the rural college graduate growth rate between 2000 and 2010 is actually higher than the national average – 16.7 percent compared to 14.3 percent.

Still, she explains, rural areas have a hard time keeping educated workers.

"There's this ... potentially vicious circle," says Stallmann. "Maybe there's no jobs that require education, so therefore people who have college educations don't stay in rural areas or don't come to rural areas."

Similarly, businesses that require college graduates don't locate to rural areas because the necessary workers aren't there, she explains.

Mark Partridge, the Swank Chair of Rural-Urban Policy at Ohio State University, says that small college-educated populations can disadvantage rural areas.

"Places with more educated workers subsequently grow faster and that's been a decades-long phenomena dating back before World War II," Partridge says.

Young adults, in particular, see more opportunities in cities both in terms of employment and quality of life, Partridge says. There has been a widening gap in college educated people between cities and rural areas over the past two decades.

The number of rural people with some college education – including technical school and non-degree programs – has also increased nationwide and at 27.4 percent, is nearly on par with the national average, 28.1 percent.

In Oxford County, the number is slightly lower than the rural average but, at 25.7 percent, is a substantial increase from 9.6 percent in 1970.

As Stallmann explains, the growth of people with some college education indicates that rural populations have responded to a demand for a more educated workforce.

The increase in education is important because of how the job market has changed, Stallmann says – many jobs now require more than a high school diploma.

The manufacturing sector is a good example of the changes, Stallmann explains.

"We used to think of manufacturing jobs as really good jobs for people with high school education," she says.

"As we're going more and more towards computer-assisted manufacturing, we're going to require more education than just a high school degree."

Although rural areas have succeeded in attracting manufacturing, getting more educated and skilled workers to return would help even more, says Partridge, particularly because technological improvements have increased efficiency, requiring a smaller workforce.

The number of people with less than a high school degree in Oxford County has fallen dramatically, from 45.6 percent of adults in 1970 to 12.5 percent in 2010.

Despite the improvement, Stallmann says attaining a college degree is more important than ever.

"If you look at employment of the college educated, they are doing much, much better than those who have only a high school degree," she explains.

"So certainly, long-run prospects for you as a person are much better if you have a college degree."

Partridge agrees. "A college graduate might earn ... around 80 percent more than a typical high school graduate and that gap has been widening over time ... on average the market values that education," he explains.

Although rural areas have a hard time attracting young graduates, Partridge says they can be quite competitive in attracting graduates in their 30s and older, who are looking for safety, good schools and community.

Rural areas can make themselves more competitive by increasing quality of life and encouraging entrepreneurs.

"Instead of trying to chase the next hot industry, which rural areas have a difficult time trying to do anyhow, try to make your community the kind of place they want to come to," he says.