Maybe it’s the time of year – the decennial census  and all those college and university graduations and commencements – that makes this issue pop-up now. There are statistics currently available  from the new census data about the states having the highest number of college degrees for those adults between the ages of 25 and 34. No surprise – at 53.4% – the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ranks second behind Washington, DC at 63.5%. By my calculation that gives Massachusetts the rank of #1 among the fifty states. The U.S. national average is 37.8%. With D.C. included – New England has four other states rated in the top 13 – Connecticut 6th at 46.3%; New Hampshire 9th at 45.6%; Vermont 12th at 43.8% and Rhode Island 13th at 43.4%. Check out an interactive map of all states for more information here on The Chronicle of  Higher Education website.