Knowledge Worker Quotient

Education is the key to prosperity. There’s simply no way to sugarcoat that fact. Communities without a strong educational foundation — good public schools, community colleges, a local college or university — are at a severe disadvantage in the competition for good-paying jobs with a future.

Employers need intelligent workers who can grasp new ideas and concepts quickly, who can think for themselves, who can visualize the big picture. It used to be that a high school diploma was the ticket to the middle class. Nowadays, one in four adults over the age of 25 possesses at least a bachelor’s degree, and in some metros — Boulder, Colo., for example — that figure exceeds 50 percent. Now in its 4th year, the Knowledge Worker Quotient compares the college-educated and technology work force among 362 metro areas.