Florida ranked #1 in education, higher education

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – According to U.S. News & World Report, Florida is ranked number one in both education and higher education in 2023.

The ranking comes as DeSantis began his second term this year and after primary, secondary and post-secondary “anti-woke” policies, along with crackdowns on pornographic material in schools, have taken effect.

Democrats have warned that so-called “book bans” will hamper the Sunshine State’s education system.

According to U.S. News, Florida’s “debt at graduation” total is $24,454, thousands below the national average of $29,300.

Florida also has a 90.2% high school graduation rate, which is nearly 4% higher than the country’s 86.5% average.

They also report that Florida’s National Assessment of Educational Progress math scores are 271, slightly below the national average of 274.

“Florida attained statehood in 1845, yet not until a pair of railroad barons built lines down the Atlantic and Gulf coasts in the late 1800s and early 1900s did the state take off, spurring the phenomenal growth of what’s now the third-most populous state,” U.S. News said in its ranking.

43.2% of the state is college-educated.

U.S. News also reported that Florida is ranked first in having the country’s best tuition and fees. The state is ranked second in 2-year-college graduation rate, and fourth in 4-year-college graduation rate.

It is ranked eighth in low debt at graduation.

For education overall, Florida is followed by New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Utah, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Connecticut, New York and Washington.

At the time of reporting, lawmakers have passed other higher education legislation, along with a measure that would expand the existing K-3 parental rights law to PreK-8.