Worcester County Education Attainment Charts

This section of charts contains education data for Worcester County Massachusetts based mainly on the latest year 2021 American Community Survey census data but also the survey from Common Core Data available for Public Elementary through Secondary Schools. In Figure 1, the percent of all people aged 25 years or older, who have either graduated from high school or completed the Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED) or some equivalent certification/credential. Worcester County depicts it has a High School Grad or higher of 91% which is in the mid range of other counties in the metropolitan area. The county with the highest percent high school graduates or better in the area is Hampshire County which depicts a high school graduates of 95% (only about 4.2% larger).

In Figure 2, the percentage of people aged 25 years or older who have graduated from college/university with at least a bachelor's degree is provided. Note that the bachelor's degree is also called a four-year degree because it normally takes four years of full-time study to finish the course curriculum required to obtain the degree. This chart portrays the proportion of the population in this region who are college graduates with at least a bachelor degree or higher. In many ways, this analysis alongside the prior chart are very quick measures of the level of education in any particular area. Worcester County depicts it has a Bachelors Degree or higher of 37% which is in the mid range of other counties in the greater region. The county with the highest percent with a bachelors degree or higher in the area is Middlesex County which depicts a percent with a bachelors degree of 57% (54.0% larger).

Figure 4 shows the percentage of people 25 years of age or older who either have no schooling at all or dropped out of school before being able to complete high school. Additionally, these are people who also do not have a Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED) or some other high school level type credential/student achievement. This analysis, along with the last two charts, provides another high level review and comparative data on the Worcester County Massachusetts educational level. Worcester County shows it has a School Dropout Rate of 9% which is in the mid range of other counties in the greater region. The county with the highest percent who dropped out of school in the area is Hampden County which depicts a percent who dropped out of school of 14% (63.1% larger).

The next chart shows a break down of people who have received a bachelor's degree or higher advanced degree generally in a campus learning environment. In particular, Figure 6, provides the proportional breakdown of all the people who have received a postsecondary education along with what the level of advanced degree that was obtained. Note that these categories do not include any type professional development type activities such as those related to maintaining professional credentials in workshop lessons. Note Professional Degree includes medical, dental, lawyers, etc. Worcester County has the percentage of percent of people with a professional school degree in the mid range of other counties in the local area at 4% of the total.

The next chart (Figure 8) provides a more detailed deep dive on the category of major degree obtained for people aged 25 years or older who earned a bachelor's degree or higher. Specifically, this frequency distribution details out what the major field of study was the degree obtained. Worcester County has the smallest proportion of percent of people with a degree in psychology at 7.6% of the total. Second, it has the smallest proportion of percent of people with a degree in liberal arts and history at 3.1% of the total.

Figure 9 provides comparative data between the places in the greater Worcester County Massachusetts region for broad educational attainment. This analysis uses provides five broad education attainment categories including: No Education/No School, Some High School, High School or equivalent, Some college or Associates Degree, and Bachelors Degree or higher. Worcester County has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with high school (or ged) at 26.9% of the total and is ranked #3. Only #2 Hampden County (28.3%), and #1 Windham County (30.3%) are larger. The next exhibit (Figure 11) provides detailed cross tabulation analysis that provides education success data broken out or cross tabulated by age group. Please note that the columns add to 100% and you must use the pagination buttons at the bottom of the table to see all the rows.

Figure 12 is a cross tabulation analysis that shows large educational success categories and is broken out or cross tabulated by racial group. Please note that the columns add to 100% and you must use the pagination buttons at the bottom of the table to see all the rows.The final cross tabulation analysis is provided in Figure 13 and shows education success broken out by gender. Please note that the columns add to 100% and you must use the pagination buttons at the bottom of the table to see all the rows.

Worcester County School Enrollment Charts

The next section of chart resources look at school enrollment by a variety of educational institutions and are categorized into a number of other groupings. Figure 14 provides the overall school enrollment by broad range of school age/level groupings. Worcester County has one of the largest proportions of percent of children in kindergarten at 19.4% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger county being Hampden County with 20.4%. Second, it has one of the largest proportions of percent of children in grades 5 to 8 at 22.8% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger county being Hampden County with 23.1%. Third, it has the second smallest as measured by percent of children in kindergarten of all the other counties in the local area in order of percent of children in grades 9 to 12 at 25.7% of the total.

Figure 15 provides a simple high level comparison of the proportion of students that are enrolled in public schools versus students enrolled in private schools in the Worcester County Massachusetts region. Worcester County shows percent enrolled in public schools approximately 3.5 times bigger as the percent enrolled in private schools.

The next comparison provided in Figure 16 shows the proportion of students enrolled in private schools versus students enrolled public schools for students enrolled in Kindergarten through 8th grade (grade 8) or (K through 8). Worcester County shows percent of children enrolled in public k-8 grades markedly bigger as the percent of children enrolled in private k-8 grades.

Figure 17 provides a comparative analysis all students enrolled in a public high school versus those students who are enrolled in private high school schools. Worcester County depicts percent enrolled in a public high school substantially bigger as the percent enrolled in a private high school.

The next chart (Figure 18) provides a similar analysis to the last chart but provides the data for public post secondary education versus private higher education colleges. Worcester County depicts percent enrolled in a public college 22.5% larger as the percent enrolled in a private college.

Figure 19 shows another view of students enrolled in public or private schools-postsecondary schools or colleges/universities. This analysis shows the proportion for all graduate and professional schools (such as law or medical school) and whether those students are enrolled in private or public institutions. Worcester County depicts percent enrolled in a public gradudate or professional school about 18.8% smaller as the percent enrolled in a private gradudate or professional school.

The next chart in this series of resources shown in Figure 20 looks at the total number of students enrolled in any educational institution for each place in the greater Worcester County region. (Total enrollment in this case includes all students from preschool all the way through students enrolled in graduate school.) Worcester County depicts it has a Total Enrolled of 206,380 which is the second most of all the counties in the metropolitan area. The county with the highest total population enrolled in school in the area is Middlesex County which depicts a total population enrolled in school of 409,377 (about twice as large). Comparing total population enrolled in school to the United States average of 80,497,960, Worcester County is only about 0.3% the size. Also, compared to the state of Massachusetts, total population enrolled in school of 1,702,976, Worcester County is approximately an eigth the size.

Worcester County Area Schools Charts

Figure 23 lists all the schools in the area along with the school district, county location and other program information/credential such as if they are a public charter school or private charter school or magnet school. Some of the Area Schools are: Paxton Center, Wire Village School, West Tatnuck, Central Tree Middle, and Wachusett Regional High. The next illustration in Figure 24 shows the total child school enrollment for all grades (through 12th grade) at the school shown using NCES data (Common Core of Data, Public Elementary-Secondary School Universe Survey.) Looking at Enrollment for Area Schools we find that Wachusett Regional High ranks the largest with a value of 2,122 enrolled students. The next largest values are for: Paxton Center (569), Davis Hill Elementary (500), Leicester High (469), and Dawson (469). The difference between the highest value (Wachusett Regional High) and the next highest (Paxton Center) is that the enrolled students is about approximately 3.7 times bigger.

Figure 25 show the ratio of the number of students to the number of teachers in the classroom. A good student to teacher ratio should be low because it indicates that there are less students for any one teacher to educate in a class and generally a better learning environment, better success and optimal teaching excellence. Teachers includes all educational staff such as special education teachers and any other educator. Note that distance learning (online learning/remote learning) is not included in these values. Looking at Student to Teacher Ratio for Area Schools we find that Leicester High ranks the largest with a value of 12.0 student to teacher ratio. The next largest values are for: David Prouty High (12.5), Wire Village School (14.5), Glenwood Elementary School (15.3), and Leicester Middle (15.4). The difference between the lowest value (Leicester High) and the next lowest (David Prouty High) is that the student to teacher ratio is only about 4.3% larger.

The next chart, Figure 26, shows the racial mix of students at each location in this district of the state of Massachusetts department of education.