California's legislature may have earned an F in budget-setting in recent years, but it's first in the class when it comes to having college degrees.
A Chronicle of Higher Education study reports that California leads the nation in the percentage of state legislators who are college graduates. The survey found that 89.9 percent of California solons have at least one degree, compared to last-place New Hampshire with 53.4 percent. (Possibly relevant is that California's 120 legislators are full-time, while New Hampshire's 424 are part-time.)
Representing El Cerrito and Kensington in the state Assembly is Nancy Skinner, who is among the 48 percent of California legislators with college education beyond a bachelor's degree. She holds a BS degree in natural resources and a master's in education, both from UC Berkeley.
State Senator Mark DeSaulnier, who represents El Cerrito and Kensington, has a BA in history from College of the Holy Cross.
The largest source of college degrees for California legislators is UCLA (13 members of the legislature), followed by UC Berkeley (9), UC Davis and Harvard tied for third and fourth (7), and UC Santa Barbara (6).
New York ranked fourth in the country, with 86.8 percent of its 212 full-time legislators holding at least a bachelor's degree. New York outpaced California in the percent with college education beyond a bachelor's, 56 percent compared to 48.
Below are the Chronicle of Higher Education's lists of the top five and bottom five states in the nation, followed by the top 10 sources of degrees for California legislators.
Top 5 States:
1. California 89.9% 2. Virginia 88.6% 3. Nebraska 87.3% 4. New York 86.8% 5. Texas 86.2%Bottom 5 States:
46. Arkansas 60.4% 47. New Mexico 59.7% 48. Delaware 59.7% 49. Maine 58% 50. New Hampshire 53.4%Where California's 120 state legislators went to college:
1. UCLA 13 2. UC Berkeley 9 3. UC Davis 7 4. Harvard 7 5. UC Santa Barbara 6 6. San Diego State 5 7. Cal State Fresno 5 8. Univ. of Southern California 5 9. UC Riverside 4 10. San Jose State 4