- Massachusetts has the best public education system out of all US states, according to an annual ranking.
- The US News and World Report rankings looked at how well states are educating their students in preschool, K-12 and higher education.
- It examines performance in areas like preschool enrollment, math and reading scores, college readiness, graduation rates, tuition and fees, and debt at graduation.
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Massachusetts was ranked as having the best public education system out of all US states, according to an annual ranking.
The US News and World Report rankings looked at how well states are educating their students in preschool, K-12 and higher education after examining areas like preschool enrollment, math and reading scores, college readiness, graduation rates, tuition and fees, and debt at graduation.
While Massachusetts topped the list, Alabama and New Mexico ranked the lowest.
The rankings come as part of US News and World Report’s “Best States” ranking for 2019, which looks at the quality of health care, education, and infrastructure in every state, as well as their economies and quality of life.
Here are the states ranked in order of the quality of their public education systems:
50. Alabama
Alabama was ranked 49th for pre-k to 12th grade and 47th for higher education.
49. New Mexico
New Mexico was ranked 50th for pre-k to 12th grade and 29th for higher education.
48. Louisiana
Louisiana was ranked 46th for pre-k to 12th grade and 49th for higher education.
47. Alaska
Alaska was ranked 47th for pre-k to 12th grade and 36th for higher education.
46. Mississippi
Mississippi was ranked 45th for pre-k to 12th grade and 33rd for higher education.
45. Nevada
Nevada was ranked 48th for pre-k to 12th grade and 18th for higher education.
44. West Virginia
West Virginia was ranked 42nd for pre-k to 12th grade and 45th for higher education.
43. South Carolina
South Carolina was ranked 41st for pre-k to 12th grade and 46th for higher education.
42. Arkansas
Arkansas was ranked 40th for pre-k to 12th grade and 40th for higher education.
41. Rhode Island
Rhode Island was ranked 36th for pre-k to 12th grade and 48th for higher education.
40. Arizona
Arizona was ranked 44th for pre-k to 12th grade and 24th for higher education.
39. Oklahoma
Oklahoma was ranked 43rd for pre-k to 12th grade and 28th for higher education.
38. Kentucky
Kentucky was ranked 32nd for pre-k to 12th grade and 43rd for higher education.
37. Michigan
Michigan was ranked 29th for pre-k to 12th grade and 42nd for higher education.
36. Oregon
Delaware was ranked 39th for pre-k to 12th grade and 22nd for higher education.
35. Tennessee
Tennessee was ranked 38th for pre-k to 12th grade and 23rd for higher education.
34. Texas
Texas was ranked 33rd for pre-k to 12th grade and 32nd for higher education.
33. Idaho
Idaho was ranked 26th for pre-k to 12th grade and 35th for higher education.
32. Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania was ranked 10th for pre-k to 12th grade and 50th for higher education.
31. Ohio
Ohio was ranked 18th for pre-k to 12th grade and 38th for higher education.
30. Georgia
Georgia was ranked 31st for pre-k to 12th grade and 25th for higher education.
29. Hawaii
Hawaii was ranked 30th for pre-k to 12th grade and 21st for higher education.
28. Maine
Maine was ranked sixth for pre-k to 17th grade and 34th for higher education.
27. Missouri
Missouri was ranked 21st for pre-k to 12th grade and 26th for higher education.
26. Montana
Montana was ranked 20th for pre-k to 12th grade and 19th for higher education.
25. North Carolina
North Carolina was ranked 28th for pre-k to 12th grade and 12th for higher education.
24. Indiana
Indiana was ranked 6th for pre-k to 12th grade and 39th for higher education.
23. Delaware
Delaware was ranked 24th for pre-k to 12th grade and 16th for higher education.
22. New York
New York was ranked 25th for pre-k to 12th grade and 15th for higher education.
21. California
California was ranked 37th for pre-k to 12th grade and 4th for higher education.
20. North Dakota
North Dakota was ranked 35th for pre-k to 12th grade and 5th for higher education.
19. Illinois
Illinois was ranked 7th for pre-k to 12th grade and 31st for higher education.
18. South Dakota
South Dakota was ranked 23rd for pre-k to 12th grade and 10th for higher education.
17. Minnesota
Minnesota was ranked 12th for pre-k to 12th grade and 20th for higher education.
16. Wyoming
Wyoming was ranked 34th for pre-k to 12th grade and 3rd for higher education.
15. Kansas
Kansas was ranked 15th for pre-k to 12th grade and 13th for higher education.
14. Wisconsin
Wisconsin was ranked 16th for pre-k to 12th grade and 11th for higher education.
13. Maryland
Maryland was ranked 11th for pre-k to 12th grade and 17th for higher education.
12. Connecticut
Connecticut was ranked 5th for pre-k to 12th grade and 44th for higher education.
11. Colorado
Colorado was ranked 14th for pre-k to 12th grade and 9th for higher education.
10. Utah
Utah was ranked 22nd for pre-k to 12th grade and 6th for higher education.
9. Iowa
Iowa was ranked 13th for pre-k to 12th grade and 8th for higher education.
8. Vermont
Vermont was ranked 4th for pre-k to 12th grade and 41st for higher education.
7. Virginia
Virginia was ranked 8th for pre-k to 12th grade and 14th for higher education.
6. Nebraska
Nebraska was ranked 9th for pre-k to 12th grade and 7th for higher education.
5. New Hampshire
New Hampshire was ranked 3rd for pre-k to 12th grade and 37th for higher education.
4. Washington
Washington was ranked 19th for pre-k to 12th grade and 2nd for higher education.
3. Florida
Florida was ranked 27th for pre-k to 12th grade and 1st for higher education.
2. New Jersey
New Jersey was ranked 2nd for pre-k to 12th grade and 30th for higher education.
1. Massachusetts
Massachusetts was ranked 1st for pre-k to 12th grade and 29th for higher education.
87.5% of children in the state graduate from high school, well above the national average, while National Assessment of Educational Progress math test scores are 5% higher than the national average.
