Prairie County Education Attainment Charts

This section of charts contains education data for Prairie County Montana based mainly on the latest year 2022 Census data using the American Community Survey 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. Prairie County depicts it has a High School Grad or higher of 87% which is the smallest as measured by percent high school graduates or better of all the other counties in the local area. The county with the highest percent high school graduates or better in the area is McCone County which shows a high school graduates of 96% (10.5% 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. Prairie County shows it has a Bachelors Degree or higher of 26% which is the second most of all the counties in the metro area. The county with the highest percent with a bachelors degree or higher in the area is Custer County which depicts a percent with a bachelors degree of 28% (9.0% 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 Prairie County Montana educational level. Prairie County indicates it has a School Dropout Rate of 13% which is more than all other counties in the greater Prairie County region.

Figure 5 provides a more detailed look at the educational attainment for Prairie County Montana. This chart provides the proportion of people aged 25 years of age or older and what was their level of educational attainment. The chart provides 5 broad categories including: No Education/No School, Some High School, High School or equivalent, Some college or Associates Degree, and Bachelors Degree or higher. Prairie County has the largest proportion of percent of people with no schooling at 13% of the total and is ranked #1. Second, it has the smallest proportion of percent of people with less than a high school education at 29% of the total.

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. Prairie County has the largest proportion of percent of people with a bachelors degree at 23% of the total and is ranked #1.

The chart in Figure 7 shows the broad area of academic concentration or the discipline for people who have received a bachelors degree. This high level classification is essentially the field of study for which a degree was obtained. Prairie County has the percentage of percent of people with a science or engineering degree less than most other counties in the surrounding region at 4.4% of the total. Second, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in a science or engineering related at 38.4% of the total and is ranked #1. Third, it has the smallest proportion of percent of people with a business degree at 16.5% 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. Prairie County has the smallest proportion of percent of people with a degree in computers, mathematics and statistics at 4.7% of the total. Second, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in physical and related sciences at 6.4% of the total and is ranked #1. Third, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in psychology at 8.4% of the total and is ranked #1. Also, it has the smallest proportion of percent of people with a degree in business at 16.5% of the total. In addition, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in literature and languages at 36.0% of the total and is ranked #1.

Figure 9 provides comparative data between the places in the greater Prairie County Montana 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. Prairie County has the largest proportion of percent of people with no schooling at 13.0% of the total and is ranked #1. Second, it has the smallest proportion of percent of people with less than a high school degree at 28.8% of the total. Third, it has the second smallest in terms of percent of people with no schooling of all the other counties in the local area in terms of percent of people with high school (or ged) at 32.5% of the total.

A more detailed frequency distribution of educational attainment is provided in Figure 10. In particular this illustration breaks out the highest levels of university educational opportunities beyond the four year college degree. Included in the breakout are the relative proportion of masters degrees, PhD/Doctorate/Doctorial holders, and professional degrees such as medicine, dentistry, lawyers, etc. Prairie County has the largest proportion of percent of people with no schooling at 13.0% of the total and is ranked #1. Second, it has the smallest proportion of percent of people with less than high school at 28.8% of the total. Third, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a bachelors degree at 8.9% of the total and is ranked #1. 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.

Prairie 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. Prairie County has the largest proportion of percent of children in kindergarten at 40.3% of the total and is ranked #1.

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 Prairie County Montana region. Prairie County indicates percent enrolled in public schools about twice as large 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). Prairie County indicates percent of children enrolled in public k-8 grades approximately 4.6 times 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. Prairie County depicts percent enrolled in a public high school approximately a quarter the size as the percent enrolled in a private high 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 Prairie County region. (Total enrollment in this case includes all students from preschool all the way through students enrolled in graduate school.) Prairie County depicts it has a Total Enrolled of 242 which is the smallest in order of total population enrolled in school of all the other counties in the metropolitan area. The county with the highest total population enrolled in school in the area is Custer County which depicts a total population enrolled in school of 2,620 ( very much bigger). Comparing total population enrolled in school to the United States average of 81,076,829, Prairie County is only about 0.0% the size. Also, compared with the state of Montana, total population enrolled in school of 242,642, Prairie County is only about 0.1% the size.

Prairie 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: Terry Middle School, Terry School, Terry High School, Kinsey School, and Kircher School. 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 Custer Co District High ranks the largest with a value of 474 enrolled students. The next largest values are for: Garfield School (259), Washington 7-8 (243), Lincoln School (212), and Jefferson School (175). The difference between the highest value (Custer Co District High) and the next highest (Garfield School) is that the enrolled students is about about twice as large.

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 Pine Hills Youth Corr Facil El ranks the largest with a value of 1.9 student to teacher ratio. The next largest values are for: Pine Hills Youth Corr Facil Hs (6.3), Terry High School (6.7), Terry School (8.5), and Lindsay School (8.5). The difference between the lowest value (Pine Hills Youth Corr Facil El) and the next lowest (Pine Hills Youth Corr Facil Hs) is that the student to teacher ratio is approximately 3.4 times bigger.

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