WalletHub, a personal finance company, has measured the best and worst states for racial equality in education based on the weighted averages for Black and White Americans in six categories. The study each state’s share of adults with at least a high school degree, share of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree, standardized test-scores, mean SAT score, average ACT score, and public high school graduation rates.
With a score of 100 representing racial equality, the state education systems with the overall most racial equality were Wyoming (88.77), New Mexico (76.62), and West Virginia (73.51). The overall worst states for racial equality in education were Wisconsin (12.53), Connecticut (23.73), and Minnesota (23.85).
The smallest Black-White gaps in the share of adults with at least a high school degree were found in Wyoming, Texas, and West Virginia, while the smallest gaps in bachelor’s degree holders were found in Wyoming, Maine, and Vermont. In contrast, the largest gaps in adults with at least a high school degree were in Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota, while the largest gaps in bachelor’s degree attainment were in Connecticut, Colorado, and Massachusetts.
For standardized test scores, Vermont, Alaska, and New Hampshire had the smallest gaps, while Wisconsin, Connecticut, and California had the largest gaps. The best states for racial equality in SAT scores were New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, while the worst states were California, Montana, and Ohio. For ACT scores, the states with the smallest Black-White gap in average performance were New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Idaho, while the largest were in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Vermont.
The Black-White gap in public high school graduation rates also varied widely among the states. Hawaii, Mississippi, and Washington had the lowest gaps in graduation rates between Black and White high school students, while the largest gaps were in Wisconsin, Nebraska, and North Dakota. According to the researchers’ calculations, the racial gap in high school graduation rates is 12 times worse in Wisconsin than it is in Hawaii.
