We are going to present data on Science and Engineering (S&E) Education from the National Science Board study, and give results for California and for the United States as a whole. Rather than showing large graphs of the yearly history of the values, we will just give the 2016 data.
For State Support of Higher Education, the US average is $7,088 per year per student. CA is higher at $8,180. The next largest states are Texas at $7,175, and Florida at $6,919. These numbers largely depend on the local cost of living and salaries, and are hard to compare.
State Expenditures on Student Aid for undergraduate students is 2015 is $961 for the US, and double that in CA at $2,067.
The number of students conferred with bachelor’s degrees in S&E per thousand of population in the 18-24 cohort is 21.4 for the US, and almost exactly the same for CA at 21.8.
The percentage of S&E students among all students in higher education is 32.2% for the US, and higher in CA at 40.6%.
The numbers of the public with degrees in S&E or Health in 2015 is 15.0 per thousand in the US, and 14.1 in CA.
The frequency of S&E doctoral degrees as a percent of all S&E degrees is 4.32% in the US and 4.47% in CA, essentially the same.
State Tax funds for Higher Education as a Percent of GDP is 0.42% in the US, but 0.50% in CA. Both of these are just a fraction of what they should be, for the advanced S&E economy that was detailed in the previous article.
Bachelors degrees among those 25-44 years old is 34.9% for the US, and 35.4% for CA.
Postsecondary degrees among those 25-44 is 44.0% for the US, and 43.0% for CA.
We just add in here that Individuals with a High School or higher level education among those 25-44 is 89.0% in the US, and 85.1% for CA.
We also note that Elementary and Secondary Public School Expenditures as a percent of GDP are 3.21% for the US, and 2.60% for CA, so the US is 23% higher.
Individuals in S&E as a percent of all Occupations is 4.81% for the US and 5.84% for CA.
The statistic that really makes California stand out is the Venture Capital Disbursements per million dollars of GDP. That is $15,247 for California, versus only $3,786 for the US average. So for CA, this is a 1.5% of GDP investment in venture capital.
The R&D expenditures for 2015 as a percent of GDP is 2.75% for the US, about comparable with the most technological nations. But for California, it is approaching double that at 5.02%. CA, as nation, would be the 6th largest economy. We are exceeded in R&D only by Maryland at 5.57%, Massachusetts at 5.87%, and New Mexico at 6.52%. We are also a much larger state, so we have a lot more R&D.
