American Next Features

Jon Parkhurst, 33, is a web developer and owner of CDC Digital in Sedalia. He started working at his family’s steel business when he was a teenager. Although he’s attended college on and off over the years, he doesn’t have a degree. Parkhurst, a single father of three, emphasizes experience rather than formal education and passes these values to his children. This is the story he tells.

Chance Foster, 30, is a husband, father and co-founder of Truescape LLC, a landscaping company based in Fulton. Foster thought he’d stay in Columbia after college, but the opportunity arose to start his own business with longtime friend and fellow landscaper Nathan Real. Both of them received their degrees from the University of Missouri in plant science, landscape design and turf management. After having a daughter, Foster’s lifestyle has changed, and he’s well on target to reach the career, family and lifestyle goals he set out to reach by the age of 35. He tells his story.

The level of education pays a huge part in determining a person's success in the labor market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that, in 2011, those with a professional degree other than a doctorate or master's had the lowest unemployment rate, at 2.4 percent, and the highest median pay, at $1,665 per week.

Race, education, health insurance coverage and poverty can all play a part in determining a person's quality of life and ability to achieve the American Dream.

The state of Missouri is 68,741.5 square miles, with 114 counties. Not every part of Missouri is the same, with different primary employers and median incomes.