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A report on education and incarceration by Studee shows that Oklahoma ranks in the bottom six in the nation for the amount of jails/prisons vs colleges.
The report done by Studee, an online service aimed to help students apply and enroll at universities abroad, took a look at the states which had more facilities for incarceration than higher education.
Out of the 50 U.S. states, only 14 states boasted more places of higher education (an institution where you can earn a bachelor’s degree or above) than jails and prisons. Out of those 14 states, 11 were located in the Northeast/New England region.
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Oklahoma Sixth in Incarceration Facilities Per Colleges
In a state where the Governor constantly says is a “top 10 state,” Oklahoma ranks in the bottom 10 of incarceration facilities per colleges, and bottom five in overall education.
I’m a fourth-generation Oklahoman and I am so proud of our great state.
There’s no better place to live right now than the state of Oklahoma. pic.twitter.com/ZAYyA0Ospt
— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) June 20, 2022
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Oklahoma has 31 colleges/universities where someone can earn at least a bachelor’s degree.
In their most recent survey in 2019, the National Institute of Corrections shows that Oklahoma has 117 incarceration facilities, with 24 state prison facilities and 93 jail facilities.
Having 277% more incarceration facilities than colleges puts Oklahoma in the bottom six in the country, barely above Louisiana, the incarceration capitol in the U.S.
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Louisiana currently has an incarceration rate of 680 people per 100k, according to the NIC, with Oklahoma a few dozen behind at 639 people per 100k.
The correlation between people who do not have a higher education degree vs incarceration rates is very strong. Less than 25% of Oklahomans have a bachelor’s degree or above, making it one of the least educated states in the country.
Due to the strong correlation between the number of people who hold degrees and the number of people incarcerated in each state it could be concluded that promoting higher education and creating more degree-offering institutions could help to reduce the number of people incarcerated, the report concluded.
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