Missouri's Excellent Education System Ensures an Ample Workforce

Missouri’s abundance of highly skilled employees results from the state’s superior education systems. From elementary through post-secondary education, Missouri’s educational institutions continue to excel at providing an exceptional intellectual framework for its residents.

Elementary and Secondary Education

Missouri’s high school graduation rate for the 2008-2009 school year was 83.1%, higher than the national average of 75.5% (Digest of Education Statistics).
Missouri students consistently score higher than the national average on both the ACT and the SAT.
Missouri ranked 11th for number of operational school districts in 2011, higher than Massachusetts, Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida.
Four Missouri schools were awarded gold medals by U.S. News and World Report in 2012:
- Metro High School, St. Louis City School District, ranked 76th nationally.
- Clayton High School, Clayton School District, ranked 136th nationally.
- Lincoln College Preparatory, Kansas City 33 School District, ranked 254th nationally.
- Central High School, Springfield R-XII School District, ranked 327th nationally.

Elementary and Secondary Education Statistics
_{2010-2011 School Year.}_{Source: National Center for Education Statistics}
	Missouri	US (avg)	Arkansas	Illinois	Iowa	Kansas	Kentucky	Nebraska	Oklahoma	Tennessee
Total Number of Elementary and Secondary Schools	2,451	1,988	1,128	4,439	1,487	1,470	1,577	1,127	1,803	1,803
Elementary and Secondary Schools' Pupil/Teacher Ratio	13.77	15.97	14.07	14.31	15.73	13.96	16.01	13.36	15.99	14.84

Post-Secondary Education

Missouri's 138 post-secondary educational institutions continue to score high in national and regional rankings.

In addition to ranking 14th overall in the country, Washington University has been recognized as having the 6th best School of Medicine: Research by U.S. News and World Report. The university was also ranked in the Top 25 American Research Universities in 2011.
Four Missouri regional universities are included in the top 25 in the Midwest according to U.S. News and World Report:
- Truman State University ranked 8th overall. Truman was the top ranked public regional university in the Midwest.
- Drury University ranked 11th.
- Rockhurst University ranked 21st.
- Webster University ranked at 24th.
Eight Missouri regional universities are included in the top 25 in the Midwest for Most International Students according to U.S. News and World Report:
- Park University ranked 2nd.
- Lindenwood University ranked 4th.
- Columbia College ranked 5th.
- Drury University ranked 8th.
- Fontbonne University ranked 10th.
- Truman State University ranked 19th.
- Avila University ranked 20th.
- Southeast Missouri State University ranked 22nd.
One Missouri regional college was included in the top 30 in the Midwest: College of the Ozarks ranked 9th.
Truman State University and the University of Missouri--Columbia were among Kiplinger's Best Values in Public Colleges for 2013.
Truman State was ranked 6th best Master's University by Washington Monthly in 2012.

Post-Secondary Comparison
_{Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data.}
	MO	US (average)	AR	IL	IA	KS	KY	NE	OK	TN
Total Title IV Degree Granting Post-Secondary Institutions	138	90	51	181	66	67	76	43	60	109
Bachelor's Degrees Awarded	39,670	32,353	12,523	70,847	30,323	17,835	20,389	12,596	19,535	29,857
Master's Degrees Awarded	19,403	13,588	4,126	41,548	7,452	6,722	7,976	4,364	5,947	10,627
Doctor's Degrees Awarded	4,651	3,109	804	7,625	2,744	1,388	1,591	1,392	1,586	2,655