In 2022, about 37.7 percent of the U.S. population who were aged 25 and above had graduated from college or another higher education institution, a slight decline from 37.9 the previous year. However, this is a significant increase from 1960, when only 7.7 percent of the U.S. population had graduated from college. Demographics Educational attainment varies by gender, location, race, and age throughout the United States. Asian-American and Pacific Islanders had the highest level of education, on average, while Massachusetts and the District of Colombia are areas home to the highest rates of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher. However, education levels are correlated with wealth. While public education is free up until the 12th grade, the cost of university is out of reach for many Americans, making social mobility increasingly difficult. Earnings White Americans with a professional degree earned the most money on average, compared to other educational levels and races. However, regardless of educational attainment, males typically earned far more on average compared to females. Despite the decreasing wage gap over the years in the country, it remains an issue to this day. Not only is there a large wage gap between males and females, but there is also a large income gap linked to race as well.

In an impressive increase from years past, 39 percent of women in the United States had completed four years or more of college in 2022. This figure is up from 3.8 percent of women in 1940. A significant increase can also be seen in males, with 36.2 percent of the U.S. male population having completed four years or more of college in 2022, up from 5.5 percent in 1940.

4- and 2-year colleges

In the United States, college students are able to choose between attending a 2-year postsecondary program and a 4-year postsecondary program. Generally, attending a 2-year program results in an Associate’s Degree, and 4-year programs result in a Bachelor’s Degree.

Many 2-year programs are designed so that attendees can transfer to a college or university offering a 4-year program upon completing their Associate’s. Completion of a 4-year program is the generally accepted standard for entry-level positions when looking for a job.

Earnings after college

Factors such as gender, degree achieved, and the level of postsecondary education can have an impact on employment and earnings later in life. Some Bachelor’s degrees continue to attract more male students than female, particularly in STEM fields, while liberal arts degrees such as education, languages and literatures, and communication tend to see higher female attendance.

All of these factors have an impact on earnings after college, and despite nearly the same rate of attendance within the American population between males and females, men with a Bachelor’s Degree continue to have higher weekly earnings on average than their female counterparts.

In the academic year of 2020/21, about 860,760 male and 1.2 million female students earned a Bachelor's degree in the United States. By the academic year of 2031/32, the number of male Bachelor's degree recipients is expected to reach 975,020.

Bachelor’s degrees in the United States

American students typically earn a Bachelor’s degree for an undergraduate course of study and it is normally completed in four years. Depending on the major, students receive a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Fine Arts, or another type of certificate.

In 2021, about 1.17 million white students earned a Bachelor's degree, followed by 324,848 Hispanic students.

Bachelor's degrees and earnings

When looking at the mean income of Bachelor’s degree holders in 2021, there are marked differences between the female and male Bachelor’s degree holders. Men with a Bachelor’s degree earned about 107,315 U.S. dollars per year, compared to women, who earned 77,099 U.S. dollars per year. In addition, salaries tended to increase the more educated a person was.

Graph and download economic data for Civilian Labor Force - College Graduates - Master's Degree, 16 years and over (CGMDL16O) from Jan 2000 to Jun 2025 about master's degree, tertiary schooling, civilian, 16 years +, education, labor force, labor, household survey, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over, Men (CGBDUM25O) from Jan 2000 to Jun 2025 about males, 25 years +, tertiary schooling, education, household survey, unemployment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over, Women (CGBD25OW) from Jan 2000 to Jun 2025 about females, 25 years +, tertiary schooling, education, unemployment, rate, and USA.

In the academic year of 2021/22, almost 2.02 million students were awarded a Bachelor's degree in the United States. This figure is expected to increase to the academic year of 2031/32, when about 2.46 million students are forecasted to be awarded a Bachelor's degree.

Overall educational attainment measures the highest level of education attained by a given individual: for example, an individual counted in the percentage of the measured population with a master’s or professional degree can be assumed to also have a bachelor’s degree and a high school diploma, but they are not counted in the population percentages for those two categories. Overall educational attainment is the broadest education indicator available, providing information about the measured county population as a whole.

Only members of the population aged 25 and older are included in these educational attainment estimates, sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS).

Champaign County has high educational attainment: over 48 percent of the county's population aged 25 or older has a bachelor's degree or graduate or professional degree as their highest level of education. In comparison, the percentage of the population aged 25 or older in the United States and Illinois with a bachelor's degree in 2023 was 21.8% (+/-0.1) and 22.8% (+/-0.2), respectively. The population aged 25 or older in the U.S. and Illinois with a graduate or professional degree in 2022, respectively, was 14.3% (+/-0.1) and 15.5% (+/-0.2).

Educational attainment data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, which are released annually.

As with any datasets that are estimates rather than exact counts, it is important to take into account the margins of error (listed in the column beside each figure) when drawing conclusions from the data.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of providing the standard 1-year data products, the Census Bureau released experimental estimates from the 1-year data in 2020. This includes a limited number of data tables for the nation, states, and the District of Columbia. The Census Bureau states that the 2020 ACS 1-year experimental tables use an experimental estimation methodology and should not be compared with other ACS data. For these reasons, and because data is not available for Champaign County, no data for 2020 is included in this Indicator.

For interested data users, the 2020 ACS 1-Year Experimental data release includes a dataset on Educational Attainment for the Population 25 Years and Over.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (16 October 2024).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (29 September 2023).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (6 October 2022).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (4 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (4 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018). U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (19 September 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2007 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2006 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2005 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).

United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 65 years and over, Women was 19.00000 Thous. of Persons in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 65 years and over, Women reached a record high of 132.00000 in April of 2020 and a record low of 0.00000 in March of 2004. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 65 years and over, Women - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on June of 2025.

In 2021, about ** percent of the United States population aged 25 to 34 years had attained a bachelor's degree or higher. In comparison, only ** percent of the U.S. population aged 65 years or older had a bachelor's degree.

Graph and download economic data for Bachelor's Degree or Higher (5-year estimate) in York County, PA (HC01ESTVC1742133) from 2010 to 2023 about York County, PA; York; tertiary schooling; educational attainment; PA; education; 5-year; and USA.

United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 65 years and over, Men was 18.00000 Thous. of Persons in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 65 years and over, Men reached a record high of 157.00000 in April of 2020 and a record low of 1.00000 in February of 2006. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 65 years and over, Men - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

In 2021, the District of Columbia had the most highly educated population in the United States, with **** percent of residents over the age of 25 having a Bachelor's degree or higher. Massachusetts followed closely behind, with **** percent of residents having completed a Bachelor's degree or higher. For the United States as a whole, this figure stood at **** percent of the population.

Graph and download economic data for Employment Level - Bachelor's Degree and Higher, 25 Yrs. & over (LNU02027662) from Jan 1992 to Jun 2025 about 25 years +, tertiary schooling, education, household survey, employment, and USA.

In the 2021/22 academic year, about 4.1 million higher education degrees were earned in the United States. By the 2031/32 academic year, this figure is projected to increase to about 4.83 million degrees.

United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over was 1041.00000 Thous. of Persons in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over reached a record high of 3496.00000 in April of 2020 and a record low of 369.00000 in April of 2000. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over, Men was 578.00000 Thous. of Persons in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over, Men reached a record high of 1567.00000 in April of 2020 and a record low of 175.00000 in November of 2000. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over, Men - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 65 years and over was 37.00000 Thous. of Persons in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 65 years and over reached a record high of 290.00000 in April of 2020 and a record low of 4.00000 in February of 2006. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 65 years and over - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

In 2021, there were a total of 391,375 Bachelor's degrees earned in business studies across the United States, making it the most common field of study. In that same year, a further 126,944 Bachelor's degrees were earned in the field of psychology.

United States - Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over, Women was 2.30% in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over, Women reached a record high of 10.50 in April of 2020 and a record low of 1.50 in April of 2000. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 25 years and over, Women - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.