A well-educated populace is increasingly important to the national and to local economies. At the very least, the nation is becoming aware that two years of college are essential for job seekers who want to be competitive. But as a new report shows, it takes more than determination to set an individual course to college. What state you live in may play as great a role in how likely young people are to participate in higher education and the fruits it bears.

The message of "Measuring Up 2000: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education" is that states can and should be held accountable for the performance of their elementary, secondary and postsecondary systems. For state policies have everything to do with the amount of opportunity and access to higher education a state's residents have, says David Breneman, chair of the National Advisory Panel for the report card. He is dean of the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education.

The report is the first of its kind in the nation. Published by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, the report's authors drew upon data that would be reliable and comparable across the 50 states. Most of it came from the U.S. Census and the U.S. Department of Education. Using approximately 30 indicators, the panel grades states in six performance categories: academic preparation, participation, affordability, completion, benefits and student learning. Every state received an "Incomplete" in the last category because the panel wanted to note a "gap in our ability as a nation to say something meaningful about what students learn in college."

The best and worst

No state got A's in every category; but the states that put a priority on education all the way through college were clear.

In terms of preparation, the states with the best records for high school graduation rates and rigorous course requirements are Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Utah and Wisconsin. Alabama and Louisiana got F's.

Seven states have achieved great gains in college participation over the past 10 years: Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Rhode Island. Georgia and Louisiana were the worst. The greatest variables affecting this indicator, says the report, are income and ethnicity.

California provides the most affordable higher education in the country in terms of its tuition costs and financial aid funding. Also earning A's were Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina and Utah. The least affordable were Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

For the category of college completion, Connecticut got the highest marks for students continuing beyond their freshman year, but couldn't sustain a grade of A through to the awarding of a degree. Those states that got A's were Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. The states earning grades of F were Alaska and Nevada.

In the final category of states and residents that benefit most both economically and academically from higher education, Maryland led the pack, followed by Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island. The only state failing to benefit from higher education was West Virginia.

Copies of the center's report, which includes extensive supporting data and commentary articles, can be downloaded at www.highereducation.org.

Measuring Up 2000: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education