Postsecondary Degrees in US State Legislatures, 2005 and 2014

These data include three measures of postsecondary degrees in state legislatures. 1. Postsecondary degrees is the percentage of a state's legislators that hold at least one postsecondary degree. 2. Public postsecondary degrees is the percent of postsecondary degrees that were awarded from public institutions, and 3. In-state public postsecondary degrees is the percent of postsecondary degrees that were awarded from public institutions located in the state the legislator represents. Postsecondary degrees include 2-, 4-, and 4+ year degrees awarded from colleges and universities.

Data are used in the following studies:

1. Shorette K, Thiele M, Bolzendahl C. Degrees of Support: State Spending on Higher Education and Public Postsecondary Degrees across State Legislatures, 2005 and 2014. Socius. January 2021. doi:10.1177/23780231211009992
2. Thiele M, Shorette K, Bolzendahl C. Returns to Education: Exploring the Link Between Legislators' Public School Degrees and State Spending on Higher Education. Sociological Inquiry. May 2012. doi:10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00405.x