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One out of five Michigan lawmakers does not have a college degree

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Research by The Detroit News finds that 20% of Michigan lawmakers don't have a college degree. 

A conversation about lawmakers' education has emerged after Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker entered the presidential race. He attended college, but didn't graduate.

Edward Sidlow is a political science professor at Eastern Michigan University.

He says fewer state legislators were college educated in the 1970s and '80s.

"It was part-time work with a part-time wage, so non-college educated people fit in quite well," Sidlow said. 

Sidlow  says there is a difference between people who attended college to those who never attended college.

"If someone had a university experience and did a bulk of the work, I am not sure the credential itself is absolutely critical," Sidlow said.

According to the Lumina Foundation, about 40% of working-age Americans have a college degree.

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