Colorado embroiled in education flap

DENVER, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Colorado boasts about having the nation's most educated people but a new report shows the state drops the ball when sending its own to college.

The Denver Post reports only 39 percent of Colorado's high school students are university bound -- with the state only able to tout itself as the most educated because of its imported workforce.

Census Bureau figures indicate 33 percent of Coloradans older than 25 have at least a bachelor's degree and nearly two out of three have some college education. But Colorado sends only 26,000 of its 66,000 high school freshmen to college within four years.

In contrast, North Dakota sends 59 percent of its high school freshmen to college while Massachusetts and New Jersey each send 54 percent.

Colorado ranks 30th in sending its own to college and the reasons are varied.

The newspaper said 20 percent to 30 percent drop out of high school, 5 percent join the military and many of the rest are victims of financial or cultural barriers.

And then, of course, there's the lifestyle: It's more fun to ski than go to college.