I think you are confusing education level and culture. I dont where I saw it but several years ago, I saw an article on education level. On the whole, SD has one of the highest (if not the highest) average educational levels in the country. Our waiters/waitresses have college degrees as do the many of the check out persons at our supermarkets because it is such a great place to live. We may be the capital of well educated but under employed individuals. The percentage of folks with advanced degrees here is very very high. With that said, if you want to talk about culture….well thats a completely different topic. We have a beach culture and not much else.