Study Ranks Montana Among Worst States for College Students

Montana has a lot of school pride for our colleges and universities. You can tell by all the flags, jerseys, bumper stickers, and signs across the state. Not all of that pride has to do with athletics, there are some quality learning institutions in Montana.

That may just be my opinion, because according to SmileHub.org, Montana is not a very good state for college students. According to their report, it is actually one of the worst in the country.

There is only one state that ranks worse than Montana for college students and that is West Virginia. Yes, Montana is ranked forty-ninth for states that are good for college students.

Where Montana Schools Can Improve

These results were shocking, so I reached out SmileHub.org and spoke with Luke Powers about the numbers and what they mean for Montana. It isn't all bad news, but there are a lot of places where we can improve.

According to Powers, they looked at three main categories: education, quality, and support. Within those categories they looked at twenty-eight different metrics.

In our reports those metrics included things like education quality, charities per capita, graduation rates, state funding for higher education, and students per capita. 

Also, some interesting ones, like nightlife options per capita, share of single people.. access to public transportation, living wage, shared rental units, and housing costs. We determined these factors important for college students or people considering these different aspects (of college life). 

They wanted to cover the education, economics, and social life for college students.

Montana ranked low in education qualities, student support and social life metrics coming in at forty-eighth. We also rank forty-ninth in lowest earning potential for college graduates.

According to Powers, one area where Montana can improve is in our graduation and retention rates. Retention rates measure how many students continue their education at the same institution year after year. Montana ranked forty-fifth in education affordability.

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Montana has some positive rankings. The highest ranking is in the lack of hate crimes on our campuses, ranking second. We also rank high in our lack of unemployment.

Massachusetts Ranks the Highest

The states that rank the best for college students are Massachusetts followed by New York, Illinois, Rhode Island, and California.