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.

As of 2022, 51.4 percent of Americans aged 20 to 21 years were enrolled in higher education institutions in the United States, a considerable increase compared to 31.9 percent enrolled in 1970. For Americans aged 18 to 19, 46.5 percent were enrolled in higher education in 2022.

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).

School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) in United States was reported at 79.36 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

The Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey is the primary source of information on R&D expenditures at U.S. colleges and universities. The survey collects information on R&D expenditures by field of research and source of funds and also gathers information on types of research, expenses, and R&D personnel. The survey is an annual census of institutions that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted for R&D in the fiscal year. This dataset includes HERD assets for 2022.

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.

Graph and download economic data for Ratio of Female to Male Tertiary School Enrollment for the United States (SEENRTERTFMZSUSA) from 1971 to 2022 about enrolled, ratio, tertiary schooling, females, males, education, and USA.

The National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program develops annually updated point locations (latitude and longitude) for postsecondary institutions included in the NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The IPEDS program annually collects information about enrollments, program completions, graduation rates, faculty and staff, finances, institutional prices, and student financial aid from colleges, universities, and technical and vocational institutions that participate in federal student financial aid programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended). The NCES EDGE program uses address information reported in the annually updated IPEDS directory file to develop point locations for all institutions reported in IPEDS. The point locations in this data layer were developed from the 2022-2023 IPEDS collection. For more information about NCES school point data, see: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/Geographic/SchoolLocations.All information contained in this file is in the public domain. Data users are advised to review NCES program documentation and feature class metadata to understand the limitations and appropriate use of these data.

Context

This dataset contains the US News rankings of the best American universities of undergraduate programs. This is how US News ranks the colleges: "We calculated 10 distinct overall rankings where colleges and universities were grouped by their academic missions. For each ranking, the sum of weighted, normalized values across 17 indicators of academic quality determine each school's overall score and, by extension, its overall rank. The top performer(s) in each ranking displays an overall score of 100. Others' overall scores are on a 0-99 scale reflecting the distance from their ranking's top-performing school(s). Those placing outside the top 75% display their ranking's bottom quartile range (e.g., No. 90-120) instead of their individual ranks (e.g., No. 102)."

Content

This dataset contains the rankings of 392 American universities based on their undergraduate programs. It also contains the tuitions and enrollment numbers of each university. 2 colleges don't have tuition data, so it is labelled -1.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge US News for providing these rankings.

Inspiration

As a high schooler applying to undergraduate programs in America, it would be useful to know which colleges are best, and to compare tuitions and enrollment numbers.

Snapshot img

The online higher education market share in the US is expected to increase by USD 33.35 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market’s growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 19.82%.

This online higher education market in the US research report provides valuable insights on the post COVID-19 impact on the market, which will help companies evaluate their business approaches. Furthermore, this report extensively covers online higher education market in the US segmentation by subjects (commerce and management, STEM, Arts, and others) and courses (non-degree courses and degree courses). The online higher education market in the US report also offers information on several market vendors, including American Public Education Inc., Adtalem Global Education Inc., Apollo Education Group Inc., Graham Holdings Co., Grand Canyon Education Inc., ITT Educational Services Inc., LINCOLN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES Corp., Perdoceo Education Corp., Strategic Education Inc., and Zovio Inc. among others.

What will the Online Higher Education Market Size in the US be During the Forecast Period?

Download the Free Report Sample to Unlock the Online Higher Education Market Size in the US for the Forecast Period and Other Important Statistics

Online Higher Education Market in the US: Key Drivers, Trends, and Challenges

The collaborations between enterprises and educational institutions is notably driving the online higher education market growth in the US, although factors such as designing e-learning courses may impede the market growth. Our research analysts have studied the historical data and deduced the key market drivers and the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the online higher education industry in the US. The holistic analysis of the drivers will help in deducing end goals and refining marketing strategies to gain a competitive edge.

Key Online Higher Education Market Driver in the US

The collaborations between enterprises and educational institutions is one of the key drivers supporting the online higher education market growth in the US. Although such collaborations can take numerous forms, the most common are training, partnerships, or R&D partnerships. For instance, IBM-Charlotte was designed by the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte) and IBM with the aim of enhancing the university’s technical vitality, expanding its local personnel resource bank, and ultimately offering IBM's technical communicators a way of earning degrees in their field of work. For UNC-Charlotte, the relationship with IBM gave its developing Technical Communication program community support and visibility and simultaneously provided faculty with research opportunities and practical experience at the workplace. Such collaborations are driving the growth of the online higher education market in the US during the forecast period.

Key Online Higher Education Market Trend in the US

Increased use of wearable gadgets is another factor supporting the online higher education market growth in the US. Technologies such as augmented reality (AR) are also changing the learning experience of participants. 3D simulations and scenarios that are developed using wearable technology devices give users a chance to learn in different learning environments. Moreover, the theoretical explanation of various concepts and step-by-step training on operations in an organization, followed by familiarizing students with on-the-floor working environments, are time-consuming. Therefore, wearable technology devices can help universities or educational institutions to engage with students directly on the floor. This reduces the duration and makes students more comfortable with online learning. Thus, the affordable prices of wearable gadgets will foster their greater adoption, in turn fostering the growth of the online higher education market in the US

Key Online Higher Education Market Challenge in the US

Designing e-learning courses is one of the factors hindering the online higher education market growth in the US. A significant amount of time, money, and resources are needed for developing the content for online courses. On average, moderately interactive online content takes about 90-240 hours to develop and costs developers approximately $10,000 per produced hour for moderate-level content. Similarly, the cost keeps rising as the complexity of the content increases. The major factors impacting the cost incurred on creating online education content are the resources needed, the state of the source content, the elements embedded in the online content, and the interactivity and instructional complexities involved. Therefore, this is a challenging factor for the growth of the online higher education market in the US.

This online higher education market in the US analysis report also provides detailed information on other upcoming trends and challenges that will have a far-reaching effect on the market

According to a survey conducted in 2022, ** percent of adults aged 45 to 64 years old believed that paying for college was very difficult in the United States - more than other age groups. Adults aged 65 and over were the least likely to think that paying for college was very difficult, at ** percent. However, adults who were between 18 and 34 years old were most likely to believe that paying for college was somewhat easy in the United States.

1. Reference Year: 2022/20232. Enrolments in Further Education and Training are extracted from the SOLAS Programme Learner Support Service (PLSS)3. Enrolments in Higher Education are provided by the Higher Education Authority (HEA)4. Data covers full-time students only5. Enrolments are in state-funded institutions only and exclude enrolments in private colleges6. All values for Higher Education Students are rounded to the nearest 5 students with the individual figures rounded independently, so the sum of the component items may therefore not necessarily add to the totals shown7. Data on enrolments in further education for the academic year 2022/2023 will be included once it becomes available. This affects indicators across several areas

United States US: GERD Performed: Higher Education Sector data was reported at 9.905 % in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 10.439 % for 2021. United States US: GERD Performed: Higher Education Sector data is updated yearly, averaging 11.863 % from Dec 1981 (Median) to 2022, with 42 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 14.250 % in 2004 and a record low of 8.898 % in 1984. United States US: GERD Performed: Higher Education Sector data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.OECD.MSTI: Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development: OECD Member: Annual.

For the United States, from 2021 onwards, changes to the US BERD survey questionnaire allowed for more exhaustive identification of acquisition costs for ‘identifiable intangible assets’ used for R&D. This has resulted in a substantial increase in reported R&D capital expenditure within BERD. In the business sector, the funds from the rest of the world previously included in the business-financed BERD, are available separately from 2008. From 2006 onwards, GOVERD includes state government intramural performance (most of which being financed by the federal government and state government own funds). From 2016 onwards, PNPERD data are based on a new R&D performer survey. In the higher education sector all fields of SSH are included from 2003 onwards.

Following a survey of federally-funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) in 2005, it was concluded that FFRDC R&D belongs in the government sector - rather than the sector of the FFRDC administrator, as had been reported in the past. R&D expenditures by FFRDCs were reclassified from the other three R&D performing sectors to the Government sector; previously published data were revised accordingly. Between 2003 and 2004, the method used to classify data by industry has been revised. This particularly affects the ISIC category “wholesale trade” and consequently the BERD for total services.

U.S. R&D data are generally comparable, but there are some areas of underestimation:

1. i) Up to 2008, Government sector R&D performance covers only federal government activities. That by State and local government establishments is excluded;
2. ii) Except for the Government and the Business Enterprise sectors, the R&D data exclude most capital expenditures. For the Business Enterprise sector, depreciation is reported in place of gross capital expenditures up to 2014. Higher education (and national total) data were revised back to 1998 due to an improved methodology that corrects for double-counting of R&D funds passed between institutions.

Breakdown by type of R&D (basic research, applied research, etc.) was also revised back to 1998 in the business enterprise and higher education sectors due to improved estimation procedures.

The methodology for estimating researchers was changed as of 1985. In the Government, Higher Education and PNP sectors the data since then refer to employed doctoral scientists and engineers who report their primary work activity as research, development or the management of R&D, plus, for the Higher Education sector, the number of full-time equivalent graduate students with research assistantships averaging an estimated 50 % of their time engaged in R&D activities. As of 1985 researchers in the Government sector exclude military personnel. As of 1987, Higher education R&D personnel also include those who report their primary work activity as design.

Due to lack of official data for the different employment sectors, the total researchers figure is an OECD estimate up to 2019. Comprehensive reporting of R&D personnel statistics by the United States has resumed with records available since 2020, reflecting the addition of official figures for the number of researchers and total R&D personnel for the higher education sector and the Private non-profit sector; as well as the number of researchers for the government sector. The new data revise downwards previous OECD estimates as the OECD extrapolation methods drawing on historical US data, required to produce a consistent OECD aggregate, appear to have previously overestimated the growth in the number of researchers in the higher education sector.

Pre-production development is excluded from Defence GBARD (in accordance with the Frascati Manual) as of 2000. 2009 GBARD data also includes the one time incremental R&D funding legislated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Beginning with the 2000 GBARD data, budgets for capital expenditure – “R&D plant” in national terminology - are included. GBARD data for earlier years relate to budgets for current costs only.

This layer shows Educational Attainment. This is shown by state and county boundaries. This service contains the 2018-2022 release of data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, and contains estimates and margins of error. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis. This layer is symbolized to show the Population 25 years and over - Bachelor's Degree or higher (%). To see the full list of attributes available in this service, go to the "Data" tab, and choose "Fields" at the top right. Current Vintage: 2018-2022ACS Table(s): DP02Data downloaded from: Census Bureau's API for American Community Survey Date of API call: January 18, 2022National Figures: data.census.govThe United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS):About the SurveyGeography & ACSTechnical DocumentationNews & UpdatesThis ready-to-use layer can be used within ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, its configurable apps, dashboards, Story Maps, custom apps, and mobile apps. Data can also be exported for offline workflows. Please cite the Census and ACS when using this data.Data Note from the Census:Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.Data Processing Notes:Boundaries come from the Cartographic Boundaries via US Census TIGER geodatabases. Boundaries are updated at the same time as the data updates, and the boundary vintage appropriately matches the data vintage as specified by the Census. These are Census boundaries with water and/or coastlines clipped for cartographic purposes. For state and county boundaries, the water and coastlines are derived from the coastlines of the 500k TIGER Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. The original AWATER and ALAND fields are still available as attributes within the data table (units are square meters). The States layer contains 52 records - all US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The Counties (and equivalent) layer contains 3221 records - all counties and equivalent, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico municipios. See Areas Published. Percentages and derived counts, and associated margins of error, are calculated values (that can be identified by the "_calc_" stub in the field name), and abide by the specifications defined by the American Community Survey.Field alias names were created based on the Table Shells.Margin of error (MOE) values of -555555555 in the API (or "*****" (five asterisks) on data.census.gov) are displayed as 0 in this dataset. The estimates associated with these MOEs have been controlled to independent counts in the ACS weighting and have zero sampling error. So, the MOEs are effectively zeroes, and are treated as zeroes in MOE calculations. Other negative values on the API, such as -222222222, -666666666, -888888888, and -999999999, all represent estimates or MOEs that can't be calculated or can't be published, usually due to small sample sizes. All of these are rendered in this dataset as null (blank) values.

In the school year 2021-22, approximately 257 billion U.S. dollars were spent by private higher education institutions in the United States. In that same year, 441 billion U.S. dollars were spent by public higher education institutions.

School enrollment, tertiary, female (% gross) in United States was reported at 94.85 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - School enrollment, tertiary, female (% gross) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Net Change in Total Liabilities by Highest Education: Less Than College Graduate: Associate's Degree (CXUCHGLIABLB1406M) from 2012 to 2022 about no college, change, associate degree, liabilities, education, Net, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Unit Characteristics: Percent College by Highest Education: Less Than College Graduate: Less Than High School Graduate (CXU980310LB1403M) from 2012 to 2022 about no college, consumer unit, secondary schooling, secondary, tertiary schooling, education, percent, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Other Financial Information: Other Money Receipts by Highest Education: Less Than College Graduate: High School Graduate (CXUOTHRMONYLB1404M) from 2012 to 2022 about no college, receipts, secondary schooling, information, secondary, education, financial, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Professional Degree, 18 to 19 years, Men (CGPD1819M) from Jun 2010 to Jan 2022 about 18 to 19 years, professional degree, professional, tertiary schooling, males, education, unemployment, rate, and USA.