Education

Significant Statistics | Women are powering labor force recovery

Written by: Christopher Collard

The pandemic caused a massive number of Americans to leave the workforce. As a result, the U.S. labor force participation rate was the lowest since the 1970s.1 Women played a critical role in the post-pandemic recovery of the U.S. labor force participation rate.2 Women power post-pandemic labor force participation recovery. Figure 1: U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate by Gender, indexed to April 2020 What about Utah? The data are more limited and consequently not as clear. … Continued

Significant Statistics | Successes and Shortcomings in Post-Secondary Education

Written by: Ella Sjoblom

Nearly 62% of Utahns between the ages of 25 and 64 possess a college degree or other quality post-secondary credential, surpassing Lumina Foundation’s nationwide attainment target of 60%.1 Utah does not currently have a statewide post-secondary educational attainment goal. However, in 2013, Governor Herbert adopted an ambitious 66% target by 2020.2 Between 2013 and 2020, Utah’s post-high school educational attainment increased by nearly five percentage points and three more by 2023.* This is a far … Continued

Significant Statistics | Utah’s 8th-grade reading slips on the Nation’s Report Card

Written by: Shawn Teigen

Bad news: Utah was one of eight states where 8th-grade students’ reading scores were lower in 2024 than in 2022. Worse news: No states saw any improvement on the 4th-grade reading or 8th-grade reading or math scores. Better news: Utah’s 4th-grade reading and math scores and Utah’s 8th-grade math scores remained unchanged (in terms of statistically significant differences).  Good news: 15 states improved in 4th-grade math. And Utah remains better than the nation on all four tests (though … Continued

Op-ed: How schools are fighting a hunger crisis among Utah families

Written by: Shawn Teigen

Many of us consider ourselves food experts. We certainly know exactly what we prefer to eat after all. Food has also gained additional attention over time as it is and has been one of the drivers of recent inflation and perhaps one of the more palpable ones. In response to elevated prices, many people turn toward cheaper and often highly processed food as a household budget release valve. Some may even need to purchase less … Continued

Significant Statistics | What is New with Teacher Pay?

Written by: Shawn Teigen

A new survey shows that teacher pay in Utah falls below the national average – $56,200 relative to $61,600. However, this survey also shows that Utah teachers have generally gained substantial ground since the Utah Foundation released its teacher pay report in 2019. Utah teacher pay is in-line with three other Mountain States – Colorado, Nevada, and Wyoming – but ahead of New Mexico and far ahead of Arizona, Idaho, and Montana. Utah’s below-the-nation pay … Continued

Significant Statistics | Utah College Enrollment Trails Nation Due to Gender Differences

Written by: Shawn Teigen

Data source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 5-year sample. Note: The Utah Foundation used the 5-year sample for comparison due to the margins of error for Utahns. When looking at the 1-year sample for the U.S., the decrease in enrollment over the period is much more pronounced: 42.3% to 40.9% – with a 2.0% drop for men compared to a 0.7% drop for women.

Significant Statistics | How is Utah performing on the Nation’s Report Card?

Written by: Shawn Teigen

In Utah, students slipped back to their 2013 scores for the 4th and 8th grade reading tests, and back to their 2011 scores for 4th and 8th grade math tests. On the bright side, Utah students in 2022 are statistically better than the nation in all but 4th grade math. That said, the difference all but disappears when accounting for household income. The gap between higher and lower income households persists, and even widened in … Continued