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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Better-educated Rochesterians


Tuesday's Democrat and Chronicle (page 4A) includes a story about Rochester’s better-educated residents with a quote from Tony Felicetti. Many thanks to Tony for fielding the interviewer’s request at the last minute – and over the weekend. It’s great getting the MCC name associated with such positive news.

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/NEWS01/608150342

Area boasts better-educated residents

13 percent of us have a professional or a graduate degree, census data say

HYPERLINK "mailto:mdaneman@democratandchronicle.com"Matthew Daneman
Staff writer

(August 15, 2006) — Her socks just got pulled off, and Janiyah Bullock was not happy about it.

The Rochester baby squalled in the Golisano Children's Hospital examination room while Dr. Sandra Jee, a pediatrician, performed her one-month checkup. "She's already almost 9 pounds," the Brighton woman told mom Ashley Clanton. "That's good."

Jee is among the 85,211 area residents with a professional or graduate degree — 13 percent of the area's population age 25 and up, according to newly released 2005 U.S. Census Bureau statistics. Nationally, 10 percent of the population 25 and older has a graduate or professional degree.

Rochester-area residents are notably more educated than people around the state or nationally, according to some key census indicators.

A higher percentage of area residents 25 and older have some college or an associate's degree than the national average.

And a smaller percentage of that same population never finished high school compared with state and national averages.

The Rochester region has boasted a highly educated populace for some time, said Jody Siegle, executive director of the Monroe County School Boards Association. "We've had an economic base in Rochester that requires people with a good education to fill the jobs that were available," Siegle said.

"And there's a cycle about education. People who are educated ... encourage their children to be educated."

The jobs and businesses that locate to the Rochester region often do so because of that educated work force, she said. "There's no reason for someone to come here for unskilled jobs," she said.

And the Rochester region is known throughout the Northeast for having good public schools, said Anthony Felicetti, Monroe Community College vice president for enrollment management.

Among the races and ethnicities, however, educational attainment locally can vary widely.

According to the 2005 census estimates, roughly 9 percent of white men and women ages 25 and older never earned a high school diploma, compared with more than 25 percent for black men and women and more than 32 percent for Hispanic men and women.

Such educational gaps are seen in communities and populations across the country.

None of the recently released 2005 census figures include people living in group residences, such as college dorms or prisons.

Jee, originally from New Jersey, met her husband while the two were students at University of Rochester medical school. The two left after graduation but returned two years ago.

"It's a great family community," said Jee, 36. "It has a wonderful medical center. I think we'll stay here for the long term."

HYPERLINK "mailto:MDANEMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com"MDANEMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com

Dianne E McConkey
Public Affairs
08/16/2006