Question:
What are the trends in the educational level of the United States population?
Response:
Between 1971 and 2009, the educational attainment of 25- to 29-year-olds increased. In 2009, for example, 89 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds had received at least a high school diploma or equivalency certificate, an 11 percentage point increase from 1971. Although the high school completion rate increased 8 percentage points during the 1970s, it has remained between 85 and 89 percent since the late 1970s.
Higher percentages of Whites had completed high school than Blacks or Hispanics in 1971 and in 2009, although the gaps narrowed over the years. Between 1971 and 2009, the high school completion rate for Blacks increased from 59 to 89 percent, and the gap in high school attainment between Blacks and Whites decreased from 23 to 6 percentage points. During this period, the high school completion rate for Hispanics increased from 48 to 69 percent, and the gap between Hispanics and Whites decreased from 33 to 26 percentage points. Data for Asians/Pacific Islanders were not separately available until 1990, in which year 90 percent had completed high school, a higher percentage than that of Blacks (82 percent) and Hispanics (58 percent). Between 1971 and 2009, the high school completion rate for Asians/Pacific Islanders increased from 90 to 95 percent, but the gaps in high school attainment between Asians/Pacific Islanders and other racial/ethnic groups did not measurably change.
Between 1971 and 2000, the percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds who had completed a bachelor's degree or higher increased from 17 to 29 percent; however, the rate in 2009 was about the same as the rate in 2000. Between 1971 and 2009, the percentage who had attained a bachelor's degree increased from 19 to 37 percent for Whites, from 7 to 19 percent for Blacks, and from 5 to 12 percent for Hispanics. During this period, the gap in bachelor's degree attainment between Blacks and Whites increased from 12 to 18 percentage points, and the gap between Whites and Hispanics increased from 14 to 25 percentage points. Between 1990 and 2002, the percentage of Asians/Pacific Islanders who had attained a bachelor's degree increased from 42 to 56 percent; however, between 2002 and 2009 this percentage remained relatively stable. Between 1990 and 2009, the gap between Asians/Pacific Islanders and Whites increased from 16 to 19 percentage points.
In 2009, some 7 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds had completed a master's degree or higher. The percentage of Asians/Pacific Islanders who had attained a master's degree in 2009 (21 percent) was higher than that of their peers from all other races/ethnicities: 9 percent of Whites, 4 percent of Blacks, and 2 percent of Hispanics had attained a master's degree in 2009. Between 1995 and 2009, the rate of master's degree attainment increased for Whites (from 5 to 9 percent), Blacks (from 2 to 4 percent), and Asians/Pacific Islanders (from 11 to 21 percent).
Gender gaps in educational attainment shifted between 1971 and 2009. For example, in 1971, a higher percentage of males completed high school than females, by a difference of 3 percentage points, but by 2009 the rate of high school attainment was higher for females than males, by 2 percentage points. A higher percentage of males than females had attained a bachelor's degree in 1971, by a difference of 7 percentage points, while by 2009 the percentage of females who had attained a bachelor's degree was 8 percentage points higher than that of males.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2010). The Condition of Education 2010 (NCES 2010–028), Indicator 22.
Related Tables and Figures: (Listed by Release Date)
- 2010, Digest of Education Statistics 2009, Table 08. Percentage of persons age 25 and over and 25 to 29, by race/ethnicity, years of school completed, and sex: Selected years, 1910 through 2009
- 2010, Digest of Education Statistics 2009, Table 09. Number of persons age 18 and over, by highest level of education attained, age, sex, and race/ethnicity: 2009
- 2010, Digest of Education Statistics 2009, Table 11. Educational attainment of persons 18 years old and over, by state: 2000 and 2005-07
- 2010, Digest of Education Statistics 2009, Table 12. Educational attainment of persons 25 years old and over, by race/ethnicity and state: 2005-07
- 2010, Digest of Education Statistics 2009, Table 13. Educational attainment of persons 25 years old and over, by sex and state: 2005-07
Other Resources: (Listed by Release Date)