A highly skilled, motivated workforce.

O.K., so a lot of states revel in similar hyperbole. We’re not here to compare ourselves to others or so say that we’re head and shoulders above the rest.

Instead, we’ll let the facts (remember those?) speak for themselves.

We’ll start with some interesting numbers. Nearly 92% of residents are high school graduates,  37.3% have a Bachelors degree or higher, and three-fourths of the students at the state’s largest university call Washington home after graduation. Incredibly, more than a quarter of people who live in the greater Seattle area have an advanced degree.

Even more impressive, Washington has 34.9% more college graduates than the state’s educational system produces. The state is a major draw of top-tier talent from all over the country and abroad.

This isn’t surprising, given that Washington boasts a national laboratory (one of only 10 in the U.S.) and six public universities, including the University of Washington and Washington State University, and endless career opportunities.

The state has 27 private colleges and universities, 34 com­munity and technical colleges (13 offer four-year degrees) and integrated workforce training programs that are focused on the needs of Washington’s high-growth industry sectors: aerospace, agriculture/food manufacturing, clean technology, forest products, life science/global health, maritime and information and communication technology.

Our culture of creativity encourages a lifetime of learning. In addition to formal education, you’ll find that the Washington state workforce has a passion for learning that extends far beyond the classroom and into the community at large. Innovative public-private partnerships in the areas of continuing education and ongoing training yield a state workforce that is highly engaged, highly motivated and versed in the latest technologies and skills.

Perhaps that’s why libraries and indy bookstores are still so popular here. It’s in our amazingly superior DNA (sorry, had some extra hyperbole to use).