<p>This is stupid, if you live in a rich, highly educated, racially homogenous area of any of the listed "bad" states, you'll experience the same "success" as those in the "good" states. All of the listed states suffer considerably from variables that tend to affect certain groups.</p>
<p>Let us make some generalizations regarding the "bad" states:</p>
<p>The Hispanic population in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas is on the whole poorly educated, not very fluent in english, not very "well off", and not graduating high school.</p>
<p>The same can be said for the "rural" students of the South.</p>
<p>Their conclusion doesn't prove anything - it just shows that living in a state with Mexicans or Rednecks means that your state will be rated lower than others. Chance of success? If you have the right background, it doesn't matter if you live in Virginia or Alabama, one's neighborhood or town maybe, but a state is an over-generalization.</p>