Whatcom County Education Attainment Charts

This section of charts contains education data for Whatcom County Washington 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. Whatcom County depicts it has a High School Grad or higher of 93% which is in the middle range of other counties in the greater region. The county with the highest percent high school graduates or better in the area is San Juan County which depicts a high school graduates of 96% (only about 3.5% 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. Whatcom County depicts it has a Bachelors Degree or higher of 35% which is the second most percent with a bachelors degree or higher of all the counties in the greater Whatcom County region. The county with the highest percent with a bachelors degree or higher in the area is San Juan County which depicts a percent with a bachelors degree of 52% (46.4% 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 Whatcom County Washington educational level. Whatcom County depicts it has a School Dropout Rate of 7% which is in the mid range of other counties in the area. The county with the highest percent who dropped out of school in the area is Chelan County which shows a percent who dropped out of school of 16% (approximately 2.2 times bigger).

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. Whatcom County has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with a professional school degree at 4% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger county being San Juan County with 6%.

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. Whatcom County has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in a science or engineering related at 28.4% of the total and is ranked #1.

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. Whatcom County has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in physical and related sciences at 6.0% of the total and is ranked #1. Second, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in psychology at 11.4% 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.

Whatcom 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. Whatcom County has the smallest proportion of percent of children in kindergarten at 18.6% of the total. Second, it has the smallest proportion of percent of children in grade 1 to 4 at 16.8% of the total. Third, it has the smallest proportion of percent of children in grades 5 to 8 at 17.5% of the total. Also, it has the largest proportion of percent of children in grades 9 to 12 at 38.9% 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 Whatcom County Washington region. Whatcom County depicts percent enrolled in public schools very much 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). Whatcom County depicts percent of children enrolled in public k-8 grades considerably 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. Whatcom County depicts percent enrolled in a public high school very much 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. Whatcom County depicts percent enrolled in a public college considerably bigger 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. Whatcom County depicts percent enrolled in a public gradudate or professional school approximately 3.7 times bigger 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 Whatcom County region. (Total enrollment in this case includes all students from preschool all the way through students enrolled in graduate school.) Whatcom County depicts it has a Total Enrolled of 56,513 which is the third most of all other counties in the metro area. The county with the highest total population enrolled in school in the area is Snohomish County which shows a total population enrolled in school of 186,148 (approximately 3.3 times bigger). Comparing total population enrolled in school to the United States average of 80,497,960, Whatcom County is only about 0.1% the size. Also, in comparison with the state of Washington, total population enrolled in school of 1,753,707, Whatcom County is only about 3.2% the size.

Whatcom 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: Kendall Elementary, Mount Baker Senior High, Mount Baker Junior High, Educational Resource Center, and Acme Elementary. 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 Mount Baker Senior High ranks the largest with a value of 622 enrolled students. The next largest values are for: Nooksack Valley High School (508), Concrete Elementary (377), Kendall Elementary (376), and Nooksack Valley Middle School (349). The difference between the highest value (Mount Baker Senior High) and the next highest (Nooksack Valley High School) is that the enrolled students is about 22.4% larger.

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 Acme Elementary ranks the largest with a value of 15.8 student to teacher ratio. The next largest values are for: Kendall Elementary (15.9), Sumas Elementary (17.2), Concrete Elementary (17.3), and Educational Resource Center (17.8). The difference between the lowest value (Acme Elementary) and the next lowest (Kendall Elementary) is that the student to teacher ratio is about the same size.

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