Canton Inc. Magazine Spring 2013 issue

The number of adults aged 18 to 24 with some college education or an associate’s degree is 51.9 percent in the city of Canton, 47.5 percent in all of Stark County. This compares with rates of 45.4 percent for Ohio and 45.6 percent for the nation.

Canton is also home for Aultman College of Nursing and Health Sciences, a two-year degree granting institution.

There also are a variety of opportunities to earn a four-year bachelor’s degree.

Canton and Stark County are home to four universities: Malone in Canton, Walsh in North Canton, Mount Union in Alliance and Kent State University at Stark in suburban Canton. Kent Stark is the largest regional campus in the Kent State system.

Public school students are prepared for college and encouraged to begin building their college careers through a number of programs, chief among them is dual credit, where high school teachers qualify as adjunct professors at local colleges and offer college-level classes for college credit.

According to the Stark Education Partnership, an institute of research and collaboration funded by community businesses and foundations, Stark County high school students have earned or could claim credit for the equivalent of 14,359 three-hour college courses.

“We strive to become the most educated county in the United States. Every step we take, such as helping students earn college credits while they’re still in high school, leads us closer to our goal,” said Dr. Adrienne O’Neill, president of the Stark Education Partnership.

As for basic success in completing high school, 11 of Canton and Stark County’s 18 public high schools had on-time graduation rates in excess of 90 percent, and six were in excess of 95 percent. This compares with a state average of 78 percent.

Interested in how Canton and Stark County students measure up against the rest of the country? The Stark Education Partnership reports that the 2012 class from Canton and Stark County’s high schools, on average, surpassed the average national score in all areas of the ACT college entrance exam: English, mathematics, reading, science and the composite score.