In 2021, the District of Columbia had the most highly educated population in the United States, with 61.4 percent of residents over the age of 25 having a Bachelor's degree or higher. Massachusetts followed closely behind, with 45.2 percent of residents having completed a Bachelor's degree or higher. For the United States as a whole, this figure stood at 33.7 percent of the population.

In 2021, 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.

This map shows the percentage of people age 25+ whose highest education level is some college. This is shown by state, county, and census tracts throughout the US. Zoom to any city to see the pattern there, or use one of the bookmarks to explore different areas.Some college education means that the individual has some college credits, but no degree. For more information from the Census Bureau, click here.The pop-up is configured to show the overall breakdown of educational attainment for the population 25+. The data shown is current-year American Community Survey (ACS) data from the US Census Bureau. The data is updated each year when the ACS releases its new 5-year estimates. For more information about the data, visit this page.To learn more about when the ACS releases data updates, click here.

In 2021, the District of Columbia had the most highly educated population in the United States, with 35.9 percent of the population over the age of 25 having an advanced degree. Massachusetts had the next most educated population, with 20.4 percent of residents having an advanced degree. For the United States as a whole, this figure stood at 13.1 percent of the population.

An advanced degree includes graduate and professional degrees.

United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Female: % Gross data was reported at 97.698 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 96.379 % for 2014. United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Female: % Gross data is updated yearly, averaging 94.920 % from Dec 1972 (Median) to 2015, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 98.104 % in 1998 and a record low of 60.766 % in 1972. United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Female: % Gross data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Education Statistics. Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Secondary education completes the provision of basic education that began at the primary level, and aims at laying the foundations for lifelong learning and human development, by offering more subject- or skill-oriented instruction using more specialized teachers.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

This map shows the predominant highest level of education for the population age 25+ in the United States. This is shown by state, county, and census tracts throughout the US. Click on a feature to learn more about the breakdown of population by their highest level of education.The categories are grouped as:Less than High SchoolHigh SchoolAssociate's DegreeSome CollegeBachelor's Degree or HigherThe data shown is current-year American Community Survey (ACS) data from the US Census. The data is updated each year when the ACS releases its new 5-year estimates. For more information about the data layer used in this map, visit this page.To learn more about when the ACS releases data updates, click here.

This statistic shows the top metropolitan areas with the highest percentage of college graduates in the United States in 2019. In 2019, Boulder in Colorado was ranked first with 64.8 percent of its population having a Bachelor's degree or higher.

Graph and download economic data for Civilian Labor Force - College Graduates - Bachelor's Degree, 16 years and over, Women (CGBDLW16O) from Jan 2000 to Feb 2025 about females, tertiary schooling, civilian, 16 years +, education, labor force, labor, household survey, and USA.

Abstract (en): The Recent College Graduates (RCG) survey estimates the potential supply of newly qualified teachers in the United States and explores the immediate post-degree employment and education experiences of individuals obtaining bachelor's or master's degrees from American colleges and universities. The RCG survey, which focuses heavily, but not exclusively, on those graduates qualified to teach at the elementary and secondary levels, is designed to meet the following objectives: (1) to determine how many graduates become eligible or qualified to teach for the first time and how many are employed as teachers in the year following graduation, by teaching field, (2) to examine the relationships among courses taken, student achievement, and occupational outcomes, and (3) to monitor unemployment rates and average salaries of graduates by field of study. The RCG survey collects information on education and employment of all graduates (date of graduation, field of study, whether newly qualified to teach, further enrollment, financial aid, employment status, and teacher employment characteristics) as well as standard demographic characteristics such as earnings, age, marital status, sex, and race/ethnicity. ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.. Students within one year of attaining a bachelor's or a master's degree from an American college or university. A two-stage stratified sampling approach was employed. The first stage consisted of drawing a sample of bachelor's and master's degree-granting institutions from Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS)/Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) completions files. Institutions were stratified by control (public or private), by region, and by the proportion of degrees awarded in the field of education (over or under a specified number). Within each of these strata, institutions were selected according to size (size being measured by the sum of bachelor's and master's degrees awarded that year). The second stage consisted of the selection of a core sample of graduates (bachelor's and master's degree recipients) who received their degrees from the sampled institutions during the 1976-1977 academic year. Sampling rates of graduates differed by major field of study. The institution sample consisted of 300 institutions of which 30 were Historically Black Colleges (HBCs). The graduate sample was stratified by degree received and major field of study (vocational education, special education, other education, and noneducation). Data are representative at the national level. 2001-01-05 SAS and SPSS data definition statements have been created for this collection. Also, the codebook and data collection instrument were converted to a PDF file. The codebook and data collection instrument are provided by ICPSR as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.

The National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimate (EDGE) program develops annually updated point locations (latitude and longitude) for public elementary and secondary schools included in the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). The CCD program annually collects administrative and fiscal data about all public schools, school districts, and state education agencies in the United States. The data are supplied by state education agency officials and include basic directory and contact information for schools and school districts, as well as characteristics about student demographics, number of teachers, school grade span, and various other administrative conditions. CCD school and agency point locations are derived from reported information about the physical location of schools and agency administrative offices. The point locations and administrative attributes in this data layer represent the most current CCD collection. For more information about NCES school point data, see: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/Geographic/SchoolLocations. For more information about these CCD attributes, as well as additional attributes not included, see: https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/files.asp.Notes:-1 or MIndicates that the data are missing.-2 or NIndicates that the data are not applicable.-9Indicates that the data do not meet NCES data quality standards.Collections are available for the following years:2022-232021-222020-212019-202018-192017-18All 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. Collections are available for the following years:

This layer was developed by the Research & Analytics Group of the Atlanta Regional Commission, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2013-2017, to show levels of educational attainment by State of Georgia in the Atlanta region. The user should note that American Community Survey data represent estimates derived from a surveyed sample of the population, which creates some level of uncertainty, as opposed to an exact measure of the entire population (the full census count is only conducted once every 10 years and does not cover as many detailed characteristics of the population). Therefore, any measure reported by ACS should not be taken as an exact number – this is why a corresponding margin of error (MOE) is also given for ACS measures. The size of the MOE relative to its corresponding estimate value provides an indication of confidence in the accuracy of each estimate. Each MOE is expressed in the same units as its corresponding measure; for example, if the estimate value is expressed as a number, then its MOE will also be a number; if the estimate value is expressed as a percent, then its MOE will also be a percent. The user should also note that for relatively small geographic areas, such as census tracts shown here, ACS only releases combined 5-year estimates, meaning these estimates represent rolling averages of survey results that were collected over a 5-year span (in this case 2013-2017). Therefore, these data do not represent any one specific point in time or even one specific year. For geographic areas with larger populations, 3-year and 1-year estimates are also available. For further explanation of ACS estimates and margin of error, visit Census ACS website. Naming conventions: Prefixes:NoneCountpPercentrRatemMedianaMean (average)tAggregate (total)chChange in absolute terms (value in t2 - value in t1)pchPercent change ((value in t2 - value in t1) / value in t1)chpChange in percent (percent in t2 - percent in t1)Suffixes:NoneChange over two periods_eEstimate from most recent ACS_mMargin of Error from most recent ACS_00Decennial 2000 Attributes: SumLevelSummary level of geographic unit (e.g., County, Tract, NSA, NPU, DSNI, SuperDistrict, etc)GEOIDCensus tract Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code NAMEName of geographic unitPlanning_RegionPlanning region designation for ARC purposesAcresTotal area within the tract (in acres)SqMiTotal area within the tract (in square miles)CountyCounty identifier (combination of Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) codes for state and county)CountyNameCounty NamePop25P_e# Population 25 years and over, 2017Pop25P_m# Population 25 years and over, 2017 (MOE)NoHS_e# Population 25 years and over, less than 9th grade education, 2017NoHS_m# Population 25 years and over, less than 9th grade education, 2017 (MOE)pNoHS_e% Population 25 years and over, less than 9th grade education, 2017pNoHS_m% Population 25 years and over, less than 9th grade education, 2017 (MOE)SomeHS_e# Population 25 years and over, 9th-12th grade, no diploma, 2017SomeHS_m# Population 25 years and over, 9th-12th grade, no diploma, 2017 (MOE)pSomeHS_e% Population 25 years and over, 9th-12th grade, no diploma, 2017pSomeHS_m% Population 25 years and over, 9th-12th grade, no diploma, 2017 (MOE)HSGrad_e# Population 25 years and over, high school graduate (includes GED), 2017HSGrad_m# Population 25 years and over, high school graduate (includes GED), 2017 (MOE)pHSGrad_e% Population 25 years and over, high school graduate (includes GED), 2017pHSGrad_m% Population 25 years and over, high school graduate (includes GED), 2017 (MOE)SomeColl_e# Population 25 years and over, some college, no degree, 2017SomeColl_m# Population 25 years and over, some college, no degree, 2017 (MOE)pSomeColl_e% Population 25 years and over, some college, no degree, 2017pSomeColl_m% Population 25 years and over, some college, no degree, 2017 (MOE)Associates_e# Population 25 years and over, associate's degree, 2017Associates_m# Population 25 years and over, associate's degree, 2017 (MOE)pAssociates_e% Population 25 years and over, associate's degree, 2017pAssociates_m% Population 25 years and over, associate's degree, 2017 (MOE)BA_e# Population 25 years and over, bachelor's degree, 2017BA_m# Population 25 years and over, bachelor's degree, 2017 (MOE)pBA_e% Population 25 years and over, bachelor's degree, 2017pBA_m% Population 25 years and over, bachelor's degree, 2017 (MOE)GradProf_e# Population 25 years and over, graduate or professional degree, 2017GradProf_m# Population 25 years and over, graduate or professional degree, 2017 (MOE)pGradProf_e% Population 25 years and over, graduate or professional degree, 2017pGradProf_m% Population 25 years and over, graduate or professional degree, 2017 (MOE)LtHS_e# Population 25 years and over, Less than high school graduate, 2017LtHS_m# Population 25 years and over, Less than high school graduate, 2017 (MOE)pLtHS_e% Population 25 years and over, Less than high school graduate, 2017pLtHS_m% Population 25 years and over, Less than high school graduate, 2017 (MOE)HSPlus_e# Population 25 years and over, high school graduate or higher, 2017HSPlus_m# Population 25 years and over, high school graduate or higher, 2017 (MOE)pHSPlus_e% Population 25 years and over, high school graduate or higher, 2017pHSPlus_m% Population 25 years and over, high school graduate or higher, 2017 (MOE)BAPlus_e# Population 25 years and over, bachelor's degree or higher, 2017BAPlus_m# Population 25 years and over, bachelor's degree or higher, 2017 (MOE)pBAPlus_e% Population 25 years and over, bachelor's degree or higher, 2017pBAPlus_m% Population 25 years and over, bachelor's degree or higher, 2017 (MOE)last_edited_dateLast date the feature was edited by ARC Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Atlanta Regional CommissionDate: 2013-2017 For additional information, please visit the Census ACS website.

As of September 2023, BeReal was the platform in the United States that most attracted social media users with bachelor's degrees and master's degrees. Overall, 38 percent of TikTok users had a high school degree, as did 38 percent of Snapchat users. Image-based Pinterest was the platform most used by respondents with technical and vocational education.

U.S. Higher Education Market size was valued at USD 101165.92 USD Million in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 176174.98 USD Million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 7.18% during the forecast period 2024-2031.

U.S. Higher Education Market Drivers

The market drivers for the U.S. Higher Education Market can be influenced by various factors. These may include:

Demographics: Shifts in the population’s composition and size of the college-age population have an impact on the demand for higher education.

Economic Conditions: A person’s desire to pursue higher education and their capacity to pay for it are influenced by a number of economic factors, such as income levels, unemployment rates, and the general health of the economy.

Technological Innovations: These include online learning environments, virtual classrooms, and adaptive learning technologies, which have an impact on how higher education is delivered.

Government Funding and Policies: The higher education industry is greatly impacted by changes to government funding and policy, including financial aid programs and rules pertaining to student loans and accreditation.

Globalization: As more students from outside pursue higher education in the United States and American universities broaden their global reach, there is a corresponding increase in the demand for higher education.

job Market Trends: Higher education institutions’ program offerings and enrollment trends are influenced by the job market’s need for particular skills and credentials.

Competitive Landscape: Innovation and advancements in higher education offerings are fueled by competition among schools and universities, which includes rivalry for students, faculty, research funds, and rankings.

Social and Cultural Factors: The higher education market is shaped by shifting societal attitudes regarding education, cultural views of the value of higher education, and changing preferences for various educational experiences.

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.

This graph shows the educational attainment of the U.S. population from in 2018, according to ethnicity. Around 56.5 percent of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. have graduated from college or obtained a higher educational degree in 2018.

The National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimate (EDGE) program develops annually updated point locations (latitude and longitude) for public elementary and secondary schools included in the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). The NCES EDGE program collaborates with the U.S. Census Bureau's Education Demographic, Geographic, and Economic Statistics (EDGE) Branch to develop point locations for schools reported in the annual CCD directory file. The CCD program annually collects administrative and fiscal data about all public schools, school districts, and state education agencies in the United States. The data are supplied by state education agency officials and include basic directory and contact information for schools and school districts, as well as characteristics about student demographics, number of teachers, school grade span, and various other administrative conditions. CCD school and agency point locations are derived from reported information about the physical location of schools and agency administrative offices. The point locations and administrative attributes in this data layer were developed from the 2019-2020 CCD collection. For more information about NCES school point data, see: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/Geographic/SchoolLocations. For more information about these CCD attributes, as well as additional attributes not included, see: https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/files.asp.Notes: -1 or M Indicates that the data are missing. -2 or N Indicates that the data are not applicable. -9 Indicates that the data do not meet NCES data quality standards. 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.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Master's Degree, 55 to 64 years, Women (CGMDUW5564) from Jan 2000 to Feb 2025 about master's degree, 55 to 64 years, females, tertiary schooling, education, household survey, unemployment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Employment Level - Bachelor's Degree and Higher, 25 Yrs. & over (LNS12027662) from Jan 1992 to Feb 2025 about 25 years +, tertiary schooling, education, household survey, employment, and USA.

The National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimate (EDGE) program develops annually updated point locations (latitude and longitude) for public elementary and secondary schools included in the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). The NCES EDGE program collaborates with the U.S. Census Bureau's Education Demographic, Geographic, and Economic Statistics (EDGE) Branch to develop point locations for schools reported in the annual CCD directory file. The CCD program annually collects administrative and fiscal data about all public schools, school districts, and state education agencies in the United States. The data are supplied by state education agency officials and include basic directory and contact information for schools and school districts, as well as characteristics about student demographics, number of teachers, school grade span, and various other administrative conditions. CCD school and agency point locations are derived from reported information about the physical _location of schools and agency administrative offices. The point locations and administrative attributes in this data layer were developed from the 2017-2018 CCD collection. For more information about NCES school point data, see: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/Geographic/SchoolLocations. For more information about these CCD attributes, as well as additional attributes not included, see: https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/files.asp.Notes: -1 or M Indicates that the data are missing. -2 or N Indicates that the data are not applicable. -9 Indicates that the data do not meet NCES data quality standards. 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.