DES MOINES, Iowa. (CBS) — Iowa has long been known for excellence in education, but lately, it's ranking a little lower.
World Population Reviewputs Iowa at 13th, Wallet Hub at 19 and U.S. News and World Report ranks the state 24th.
In the 90s, the state ranked in the top five.
Margaret Buckton with Iowa School Finance Information Services says it's not because schools are doing worse.
"But it's interesting, iowa students are testing slightly better on their scores than they did in the 90s," she said. "It's not that our education system has gotten worse. It's that others have improved and we're not statistically significantly different than about 15 states in that middle of the pack."
Other metrics show the state is excelling. Iowa's high school graduation rate is the highest in the country. And looking at ACT scores, Iowa is in the top three of states that test more than half of its students.
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