Greater Baltimore is among the most highly educated regions in the U.S.

• Among the 25 largest U.S. metro areas, the Baltimore MSA ranks 8^th for college education attainment with 33.6% of the population holding a bachelors degree or higher—well above the national average of 27.0%.
• Baltimore's rank increased from 10th in 2005 (33.0%) to 8th in 2006, moving ahead of Atlanta and San Diego, both of which experienced declines in percent of the population with a bachelors.
• When combined with the Washington area, the broader regional CSA has the 2^nd highest population of persons with bachelors degrees (41.0%), just behind the San Jose CSA (41.1%).  (This ranking is also of the top 25 most populous CSAs in the country.)

• The Baltimore MSA increases its ranking when comparing the 25 largest U.S. metro areas by the percentage of persons holding advanced degrees—the Baltimore MSA ranks 4^th for advanced degree attainment.
• The region is ahead of metro areas such as New York, San Diego, Denver, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta and Portland, and well-above the national average of only 9.9%.