In 2023, about 22.8 percent of Californian residents aged over 25 years held a Bachelor's degree. In the academic year of 2020-2021, California had the highest number of higher education institutions of any U.S. state, with 384 such institutions. In this regard, California was followed by New York and Texas with 283 and 218 higher education institutions, respectively.

In 2023, there were 403 institutions of higher education in the state of California. Of these 403 institutions, 250 were four-year institutions and 153 were two-year institutions. California had the most higher education institutions of any state in that year.

This table contains data on the percent of population age 25 and up with a four-year college degree or higher for California, its regions, counties, county subdivisions, cities, towns, and census tracts. Greater educational attainment has been associated with health-promoting behaviors including consumption of fruits and vegetables and other aspects of healthy eating, engaging in regular physical activity, and refraining from excessive consumption of alcohol and from smoking. Completion of formal education (e.g., high school) is a key pathway to employment and access to healthier and higher paying jobs that can provide food, housing, transportation, health insurance, and other basic necessities for a healthy life. Education is linked with social and psychological factors, including sense of control, social standing and social support. These factors can improve health through reducing stress, influencing health-related behaviors and providing practical and emotional support. More information on the data table and a data dictionary can be found in the Data and Resources section. The educational attainment table is part of a series of indicators in the Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project (HCI) of the Office of Health Equity. The goal of HCI is to enhance public health by providing data, a standardized set of statistical measures, and tools that a broad array of sectors can use for planning healthy communities and evaluating the impact of plans, projects, policy, and environmental changes on community health. The creation of healthy social, economic, and physical environments that promote healthy behaviors and healthy outcomes requires coordination and collaboration across multiple sectors, including transportation, housing, education, agriculture and others. Statistical metrics, or indicators, are needed to help local, regional, and state public health and partner agencies assess community environments and plan for healthy communities that optimize public health. More information on HCI can be found here: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OHE/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Accessible%202%20CDPH_Healthy_Community_Indicators1pager5-16-12.pdf

The format of the educational attainment table is based on the standardized data format for all HCI indicators. As a result, this data table contains certain variables used in the HCI project (e.g., indicator ID, and indicator definition). Some of these variables may contain the same value for all observations.

In 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within California’s State Waters. The program supports a large number of coastal-zone- and ocean-management issues, including the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) (California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2008), which requires information about the distribution of ecosystems as part of the design and proposal process for the establishment of Marine Protected Areas. A focus of CSMP is to map California’s State Waters with consistent methods at a consistent scale. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration, interpretation, and visualization of swath sonar data (the undersea equivalent of satellite remote-sensing data in terrestrial mapping), acoustic backscatter, seafloor video, seafloor photography, high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles, and bottom-sediment sampling data. The map products display seafloor morphology and character, identify potential marine benthic habitats, and illustrate both the surficial seafloor geology and shallow (to about 100 m) subsurface geology. It is emphasized that the more interpretive habitat and geology data rely on the integration of multiple, new high-resolution datasets and that mapping at small scales would not be possible without such data. This approach and CSMP planning is based in part on recommendations of the Marine Mapping Planning Workshop (Kvitek and others, 2006), attended by coastal and marine managers and scientists from around the state. That workshop established geographic priorities for a coastal mapping project and identified the need for coverage of “lands” from the shore strand line (defined as Mean Higher High Water; MHHW) out to the 3-nautical-mile (5.6-km) limit of California’s State Waters. Unfortunately, surveying the zone from MHHW out to 10-m water depth is not consistently possible using ship-based surveying methods, owing to sea state (for example, waves, wind, or currents), kelp coverage, and shallow rock outcrops. Accordingly, some of the data presented in this series commonly do not cover the zone from the shore out to 10-m depth. This data is part of a series of online U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) publications, each of which includes several map sheets, some explanatory text, and a descriptive pamphlet. Each map sheet is published as a PDF file. Geographic information system (GIS) files that contain both ESRI ArcGIS raster grids (for example, bathymetry, seafloor character) and geotiffs (for example, shaded relief) are also included for each publication. For those who do not own the full suite of ESRI GIS and mapping software, the data can be read using ESRI ArcReader, a free viewer that is available at http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcreader/index.html (last accessed September 20, 2013). The California Seafloor Mapping Program is a collaborative venture between numerous different federal and state agencies, academia, and the private sector. CSMP partners include the California Coastal Conservancy, the California Ocean Protection Council, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Geological Survey, California State University at Monterey Bay’s Seafloor Mapping Lab, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories Center for Habitat Studies, Fugro Pelagos, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, including National Ocean Service–Office of Coast Surveys, National Marine Sanctuaries, and National Marine Fisheries Service), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey. These web services for the Offshore of Ventura map area includes data layers that are associated to GIS and map sheets available from the USGS CSMP web page at https://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/mapping/csmp/index.html. Each published CSMP map area includes a data catalog of geographic information system (GIS) files; map sheets that contain explanatory text; and an associated descriptive pamphlet. This web service represents the available data layers for this map area. Data was combined from different sonar surveys to generate a comprehensive high-resolution bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter coverage of the map area. These data reveal a range of physiographic including exposed bedrock outcrops, large fields of sand waves, as well as many human impacts on the seafloor. To validate geological and biological interpretations of the sonar data, the U.S. Geological Survey towed a camera sled over specific offshore locations, collecting both video and photographic imagery; these “ground-truth” surveying data are available from the CSMP Video and Photograph Portal at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7J1015K. The “seafloor character” data layer shows classifications of the seafloor on the basis of depth, slope, rugosity (ruggedness), and backscatter intensity and which is further informed by the ground-truth-survey imagery. The “potential habitats” polygons are delineated on the basis of substrate type, geomorphology, seafloor process, or other attributes that may provide a habitat for a specific species or assemblage of organisms. Representative seismic-reflection profile data from the map area is also include and provides information on the subsurface stratigraphy and structure of the map area. The distribution and thickness of young sediment (deposited over the past about 21,000 years, during the most recent sea-level rise) is interpreted on the basis of the seismic-reflection data. The geologic polygons merge onshore geologic mapping (compiled from existing maps by the California Geological Survey) and new offshore geologic mapping that is based on integration of high-resolution bathymetry and backscatter imagery, seafloor-sediment and rock samples, digital camera and video imagery, and high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles. The information provided by the map sheets, pamphlet, and data catalog has a broad range of applications. High-resolution bathymetry, acoustic backscatter, ground-truth-surveying imagery, and habitat mapping all contribute to habitat characterization and ecosystem-based management by providing essential data for delineation of marine protected areas and ecosystem restoration. Many of the maps provide high-resolution baselines that will be critical for monitoring environmental change associated with climate change, coastal development, or other forcings. High-resolution bathymetry is a critical component for modeling coastal flooding caused by storms and tsunamis, as well as inundation associated with longer term sea-level rise. Seismic-reflection and bathymetric data help characterize earthquake and tsunami sources, critical for natural-hazard assessments of coastal zones. Information on sediment distribution and thickness is essential to the understanding of local and regional sediment transport, as well as the development of regional sediment-management plans. In addition, siting of any new offshore infrastructure (for example, pipelines, cables, or renewable-energy facilities) will depend on high-resolution mapping. Finally, this mapping will both stimulate and enable new scientific research and also raise public awareness of, and education about, coastal environments and issues. Web services were created using an ArcGIS service definition file. The ArcGIS REST service and OGC WMS service include all Monterey Canyon and Vicinity map area data layers. Data layers are symbolized as shown on the associated map sheets.

The private schools data layer includes the location of private schools that filed the annual Private School Affidavit and reported enrollments of six or more students. The private school locations and associated attribute information are derived from the private school directory published on the California Department of Education website at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/ps/index.asp. California law (California Education Code Section 33190) requires private schools offering or conducting a full-time elementary or secondary level day school for students between the ages of 6 and 18 to file an affidavit with the California Department of Education (CDE). Inclusion of a school in this directory should not be interpreted as meaning that the State of California, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI), the State Board of Education, CDE, or any other agency has made any evaluation, approval, or endorsement of any school listed.

This layer serves as the authoritative geographic data source for California's K-12 public school locations during the 2023-24 academic year. Schools are mapped as point locations and assigned coordinates based on the physical address of the school facility. The school records are enriched with additional demographic and performance variables from the California Department of Education's data collections. These data elements can be visualized and examined geographically to uncover patterns, solve problems and inform education policy decisions.

The schools in this file represent a subset of all records contained in the CDE's public school directory database. This subset is restricted to K-12 public schools that were open in October 2023 to coincide with the official 2023-24 student enrollment counts collected on Fall Census Day in 2023 (first Wednesday in October). This layer also excludes nonpublic nonsectarian schools and district office schools.

The CDE's California School Directory provides school location other basic school characteristics found in the layer's attribute table. The school enrollment, demographic and program data are collected by the CDE through the California Longitudinal Achievement System (CALPADS) and can be accessed as publicly downloadable files from the Data & Statistics web page on the CDE website.

Schools are assigned X, Y coordinates using a quality controlled geocoding and validation process to optimize positional accuracy. Most schools are mapped to the school structure or centroid of the school property parcel and are individually verified using aerial imagery or assessor's parcels databases. Schools are assigned various geographic area values based on their mapped locations including state and federal legislative district identifiers and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) locale codes.

Compares distribution of highest certificate, diploma or degree between provinces and territories. Allows sorting/ranking of provinces and territories by percentage.

Los Angeles private school locations for the 2018-19 academic year. Data provided through the State of California's open data portal: https://gis.data.ca.gov/datasets/d5cb03b3d973473ebb86b24005a0e118_0/aboutThe private schools data layer includes the location of private schools that filed the annual Private School Affidavit and reported enrollments of six or more students. The private school locations and associated attribute information are derived from the private school directory published on the California Department of Education website at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/ps/index.asp. California law (California Education Code Section 33190) requires private schools offering or conducting a full-time elementary or secondary level day school for students between the ages of 6 and 18 to file an affidavit with the California Department of Education (CDE). Inclusion of a school in this directory should not be interpreted as meaning that the State of California, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI), the State Board of Education, CDE, or any other agency has made any evaluation, approval, or endorsement of any school listed.

In 2020, there were 3,931 higher education institutions across the United States. This was a decrease from 2015, when there were 4,583 higher education institutions across the nation.

Higher education in the U.S.

Higher education in the United States refers to colleges and universities in the country. The U.S. has some notable distinctions in regards to higher education when compared to the rest of the world, including NCAA sports, Greek life, and high attendance costs. However, a large majority of the world’s best universities are located in the United States. Some of these universities include the eight Ivy League schools, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University.

Higher education costs

The cost of university in the United States has increased significantly over the last few decades. As a result of these high tuition costs, it has caused students to take out exorbitantly high student loans. Both federal and state governments have decreased the amount of funding towards public schools, but mandatory outlays for higher education are expected to increase over the next several years. In 2021, California had the highest amount of higher education expenditures by state and local governments. California also has the most higher education institutions in the country.

In the academic year 2022/23, California was the most popular state for international students, with 138,393 international students studying there. New York, Texas, Massachusetts, and Illinois rounded out the top five leading states for international students in the United States.

This layer serves as the authoritative geographic data source for all school district office locations in California. District office location and attribute information are derived from the California Department of Education"s (CDE) public schools and districts directory and district enrollment file.

Since the school districts in this layer are represented as point locations instead of service areas, this layer includes additional district types that do not use geographically defined service areas to determine enrollment such as county offices of education, state special schools and State Board of Education (SBE) charter schools. In order to view districts represented as service area polygons, please see the "California School District Areas" layer.

The school district enrollment and demographic information are based on the 2023-24 academic year student enrollment counts collected on Fall Census Day in 2023 (first Wednesday in October). These data elements are collected by the CDE through the California Longitudinal Achievement System (CALPADS) and can be accessed as a downloadable file from the Census Day Enrollment File page on the CDE website.

District records are assigned X, Y coordinates using a quality controlled geocoding and validation process to optimize positional accuracy. Most district offices are mapped to the office structure or centroid of the district office property parcel and are individually verified using aerial imagery or assessor"s parcels databases. Districts are assigned various geographic area values based on their mapped locations including state and federal legislative district identifiers and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) locale codes.

This set of data represents the most current public schools in the State of California as of June, 2009. Information about each public school includes: school name, district, location, status, type, population and more. Latitude-Longitude values were derived from address geocoding by the US EPA Region 9 using Tele Atlas Geocoding services. The data were furnished as a dbf file generated by the CDE. Feature class and metadata were generated by the US EPA, Region 9.

This layer serves as the authoritative geographic data source for all school district office locations in California. District office location and attribute information are derived from the California Department of Education's (CDE) public schools and districts directory and district enrollment files.Since the school districts in this layer are represented as point locations instead of service areas, this layer includes additional district types that do not use geographically defined service areas to determine enrollment such as county offices of education, state special schools and State Board of Education (SBE) charter schools. In order to view districts represented as service area polygons, please see the "California School District Areas" layer.The school district enrollment and demographic information are based on the 2018-19 academic year student enrollment counts collected on Fall Census Day in 2018 (first Wednesday in October). These data elements are collected by the CDE through the California Longitudinal Achievement System (CALPADS) and can be accessed as publicly downloadable files from the Data & Statistics web page on the CDE website.District records are assigned X, Y coordinates using a quality controlled geocoding and validation process to optimize positional accuracy. Most district offices are mapped to the office structure or centroid of the district office property parcel and are individually verified using aerial imagery or assessor's parcels databases. Districts are assigned various geographic area values based on their mapped locations including state and federal legislative district identifiers and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) locale codes.

There were approximately 18.58 million college students in the U.S. in 2022, with around 13.49 million enrolled in public colleges and a further 5.09 million students enrolled in private colleges. The figures are projected to remain relatively constant over the next few years.

What is the most expensive college in the U.S.? The overall number of higher education institutions in the U.S. totals around 4,000, and California is the state with the most. One important factor that students – and their parents – must consider before choosing a college is cost. With annual expenses totaling almost 78,000 U.S. dollars, Harvey Mudd College in California was the most expensive college for the 2021-2022 academic year. There are three major costs of college: tuition, room, and board. The difference in on-campus and off-campus accommodation costs is often negligible, but they can change greatly depending on the college town.

The differences between public and private colleges Public colleges, also called state colleges, are mostly funded by state governments. Private colleges, on the other hand, are not funded by the government but by private donors and endowments. Typically, private institutions are  much more expensive. Public colleges tend to offer different tuition fees for students based on whether they live in-state or out-of-state, while private colleges have the same tuition cost for every student.

In 2021, education expenditure was highest in the state of California at 159.81 billion U.S. dollars. Texas, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania rounded out the top five states with the highest education expenditures in the United States in that year.

In 2022, there were total 10,325 public elementary and secondary schools in the state of California. Texas, New York, Illinois, and Florida rounded out the top five states with the most public elementary and secondary schools.