How can this be?

I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around these quite different figures:

The Tennessee Board of Regents is the nation's sixth largest higher education system, governing 45 post-secondary educational institutions. The TBR system includes six universities, 13 two-year colleges and 26 technology centers providing programs in 90 of Tennessee's 95 counties to over 180,000 students. From The Oak Ridger.

And yet--

Tennessee landed among the bottom 10 “dumbest” states in the nation ranked by its public education system, according to a survey just released.

Tennessee ranked 41st, just below Oklahoma and followed by Hawaii, California, Alabama, Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.Nashville City Paper.

and

A national study released today puts the state's graduation rate at 57% — much lower than the 71% nationally and a far cry from the 75% reported by the state Education Department. From the Tennessean.

How can that be?