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Narrative

• Generally Missouri's population age 65 and older has completed fewer years of education than Missouri's younger age cohorts. Prior to World War II a majority of young people entered the work force before completing, or even attending, high school. People in the 80 and older age range at the time of the 2000 Census are those who would have generally completed whatever education they were going to attain by 1941. Because St. Louis County is Missouri's largest and most urban county, the senior population of St. Louis County includes many who brought their education with them to work and live in St. Louis. Therefore, the senior population of St. Louis County has completed more years of education than seniors in other parts of the state.
• As reported in Table 1, 28.8 percent of St. Louis County seniors did not complete high school. That compares with 37.3 percent of seniors statewide who did not complete high school. However, 31.9 percent of St. Louis seniors graduated from high school but had no education beyond high school and 20.1 percent of St. Louis seniors graduated from high school and had some college but were not college graduates. Those percentages are nearly identical to those for the state as a whole. Statewide 33.9 percent of seniors graduated from high school but had no education beyond that and an additional 17.0 percent were high school graduates and had some college education. About 51 percent of the senior population in both St. Louis County and statewide were persons with no education beyond high school and those who had some post-secondary education but were not college graduates.
• The greatest difference in educational attainment between the seniors of St. Louis County and those in the remainder of the state is the percent that had graduated from college. In St. Louis County, 11.5 percent of seniors had no education beyond a college degree and an additional 7.6 percent had either a graduate or a professional degree beyond college. Thus,19.1 percent of St. Louis seniors have attained at least a college degree. That compares with only 11.8 percent of seniors throughout the remainder of the state who have completed at least a college degree.

Neighborhood Differences in Senior Education Attainment
• There are major differences among the neighborhood areas in the percent of seniors having completed high school. As shown in Table 1 and Graph 1 there are nine areas in which more than 40 percent of seniors have not graduated from high school. Especially high rates of non-completion are found in the Wellston/Pagedale and the Berkeley/Airport Areas in which 55 percent and 52 percent respectively have not completed high school. At the other extreme, only 4.9 percent of the seniors in the Ladue/Clayton Area and 7.8 percent in the Creve Coeur Area have not graduated from high school. As shown on Map 1, there are 11 areas, generally along Highway 40, in which fewer than 20 percent of seniors have failed to complete high school.
• In comparison with the wide range of differences among the neighborhood areas in the percent of seniors not having completed high school, there is much less variation in the percent of 65 and older persons who completed their education with a high school diploma. Among the areas the lowest percent of seniors having no education beyond high school is in the Ladue/Clayton Area with only 15.7 percent in that educational attainment category and in the Town and Country Area with only 17.7 percent having completed their education with a high school diploma. On the other hand, Jamestown is the area having the highest percent of seniors having no education beyond high school (41.1 percent). Between the extremes of Ladue/Clayton and Jamestown the percent of seniors in the other areas having no education beyond high school ranged between 23 percent in Creve Coeur and 39 percent in Mehlville. Most of the areas were in a narrow range between 27 and 32 percent.
• There was also a relative narrow range among the areas in the percent of seniors who had completed some education beyond high school but were not college graduates. Table 1 shows there were 15 areas in which between 12 and 18 percent of seniors had some education beyond high school. Other than those 15 areas, there were no other areas in which more than 27 percent of seniors had some education beyond high school but were not college graduates.

Higher Levels of Senior Education Attainment
As shown in Table 1 there are 27,454 St. Louis County seniors who are at least college graduates. The table shows that 7.6 percent the senior population had attained a post-graduate or professional degree beyond a college degree.
• The greatest variation in educational attainment among the neighborhood areas was the percent that were college graduates. There were six neighborhood areas in which more than 20 percent of the senior population had completed a college degree. The highest percentage, 32.4 percent, was in the Ladue/Clayton Area, followed by Town and Country with 26.5 percent and Creve Coeur with 25.9 percent. The University City/Olivette South and Ladue/Clayton Areas also had 22.2 percent and 20.5 percent respectively of their senior population holding a post-graduate degree. By combining the percent of seniors having a bachelor's degree and those having a post-graduate degree in each of the areas shows which have the highest overall education attainment. Leading this group of areas is Ladue/Clayton in 52.9 percent of the seniors hold at least a bachelor's degree. Other areas having a high percentage of senior population with advanced educational attainment are Town and Country with 43.1 percent, Creve Coeur with 42.8 percent, University City/Olivette South with 39.9 percent and Chesterfield with 37.8 percent. There are no other neighborhood areas in which more than 30 percent of the seniors are college graduates or beyond.
• Aside from those high education areas discussed above there are nine areas in which between 10 and 20 percent of seniors hold a bachelors degree. Those areas include Webster Groves with 17.7 percent, and North Ballwin/Manchester, Parkway North and Crestwood/Sunset Hills each having about 15 percent college graduates.
• At the lower end of the distribution of advanced educational attainment are 10 areas in which less than 10 percent of the senior population holds a college degree or beyond. These are generally areas found to have high percentages of low-income population. The fewest seniors having a college degree or beyond is found in the Jennings Area with 4.7 percent, Bellfontaine Neighbors/Riverview with 5.6 percent, Berkeley/Airport with 5.7 percent and Wellston/Pagedale with 5.9 percent.

Maps

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Tables

Educational Attainment for Persons 65 and Older, 2000

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• Percent of Population Age 65 and Older With Less Than a High School Diploma
• Percent of Population Age 65 and Older With Some College