Media Highlights

Nebraska a land of opportunity, new report says

by Lincoln Journal Star   •  

We’re no Vermont, but the American Dream is alive and well in Nebraska, according to a new report from a national campaign called Opportunity Nation.

The campaign’s 2014 “Opportunity Index” ranks Nebraska second among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Vermont is ranked No. 1.

The ranking takes into account 16 economic, civic and educational factors that expand opportunities for all citizens, according to the group.

Nebraska had the lowest rate of “disconnected youth,” the percentage of those ages 16 to 24 who aren’t working or in school, the report says.

The state also tied with Vermont for graduating the highest percentage of high school students on time. In both states, 93 percent of freshmen graduated within four years, according to data from the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years.

Vermont has been atop the rankings each year since the first Opportunity Index in 2011. Nebraska’s standing has risen from seventh in 2011 to sixth in 2012 and fifth in 2013.

Opportunity Nation is a bipartisan campaign of Be The Change Inc., a nonprofit based in Boston.

Read the complete report at opportunityindex.org.

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