Legislators are educated.

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS

Of all state lawmakers nationwide, 71 percent have at least a bachelor's degree, and 40 percent have an advanced degree, according to Adam Brown at Brigham Young University. Brown collected the data from Project Vote Smart, a nonpartisan organization that collects biographical information on elected officials.

Although 12 percent of the education data of state legislators is "unknown," it appears Virginia and California have the highest percentage of legislators with at least a bachelor's degree at 89 percent and 87 percent, respectively.

Full-time legislatures have a larger percentage of members with at least a bachelor's degree at 79 percent than do part-time legislatures at 66 percent.

Regionally, there is little difference among legislators' education. The Southeast has 73 percent with at least a four-year degree, followed by the Northeast and Midwest at 71 percent, and the West and Southwest at 70 percent.

Although state legislators have less formal education than Congress (95 percent of the U.S. House and Senate have at least a four-year degree), they do have more education than the average U.S. citizen. According to the Census Bureau, in 2007, only 27 percent of U.S. adults age 25 or older...