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.

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.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Unit Characteristics: Percent White, Asian, and All Other Races, Not Including African American by Highest Education: College Graduate: Master's, Professional, Doctoral Degree (CXUWHTNDOTHLB1409M) from 2012 to 2023 about doctoral degree, consumer unit, professional, asian, tertiary schooling, white, education, percent, and USA.

In 2020, the Mexican states with the highest average of academic years were Mexico City with 11.48, Nuevo León with 10.74 and Querétaro with 10.48 years. In contrast, the states with the lowest standard school years were Oaxaca with 8.12 and Chiapas 7.78 years.

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.

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

This is a MD iMAP hosted service layer. Find more information at http://imap.maryland.gov. Maryland has 200+ higher education facilities located throughout the entire State. Maryland boasts a highly educated workforce with 300000+ graduates from higher education institutions every year. Higher education opportunities range from two year - public and private institutions - four year - public and private institutions and regional education centers. Collectively - Maryland's higher education facilities offer every kind of educational experience - whether for the traditional college students or for students who have already begun a career and are working to learn new skills. Maryland is proud that nearly one-third of its residents 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher - ranking in the top 5 amongst all states. Maryland's economic diversity and educational vitality is what makes it one of the best states in the nation in which to live - learn - work and raise a family. Last Updated: 06/2013 Feature Service Layer Link: https://mdgeodata.md.gov/imap/rest/services/Education/MD_EducationFacilities/FeatureServer ADDITIONAL LICENSE TERMS: The Spatial Data and the information therein (collectively "the Data") is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind either expressed implied or statutory. The user assumes the entire risk as to quality and performance of the Data. No guarantee of accuracy is granted nor is any responsibility for reliance thereon assumed. In no event shall the State of Maryland be liable for direct indirect incidental consequential or special damages of any kind. The State of Maryland does not accept liability for any damages or misrepresentation caused by inaccuracies in the Data or as a result to changes to the Data nor is there responsibility assumed to maintain the Data in any manner or form. The Data can be freely distributed as long as the metadata entry is not modified or deleted. Any data derived from the Data must acknowledge the State of Maryland in the metadata.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Unit Characteristics: Percent Homeowner with Mortgage by Highest Education: College Graduate: Master's, Professional, Doctoral Degree (CXU980230LB1409M) from 2012 to 2023 about doctoral degree, consumer unit, professional, homeownership, mortgage, tertiary schooling, education, percent, and USA.

Maryland has 200+ higher education facilities located throughout the entire State. Maryland boasts a highly educated workforce with 300,000+ graduates from higher education institutions every year. Higher education opportunities range from two year, public and private institutions, four year, public and private institutions and regional education centers. Collectively, Maryland's higher education facilities offer every kind of educational experience, whether for the traditional college students or for students who have already begun a career and are working to learn new skills. Maryland is proud that nearly one-third of its residents 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher, ranking in the top 5 amongst all states. Maryland's economic diversity and educational vitality is what makes it one of the best states in the nation in which to live, learn, work and raise a family.This is a MD iMAP hosted service layer. Find more information at https://imap.maryland.gov.Feature Service Layer Link:https://mdgeodata.md.gov/imap/rest/services/Education/MD_EducationFacilities/FeatureServer/1

Maryland has 200+ higher education facilities located throughout the entire State. Maryland boasts a highly educated workforce with 300,000+ graduates from higher education institutions every year. Higher education opportunities range from two year, public and private institutions, four year, public and private institutions and regional education centers. Collectively, Maryland's higher education facilities offer every kind of educational experience, whether for the traditional college students or for students who have already begun a career and are working to learn new skills. Maryland is proud that nearly one-third of its residents 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher, ranking in the top 5 amongst all states. Maryland's economic diversity and educational vitality is what makes it one of the best states in the nation in which to live, learn, work and raise a family.This is a MD iMAP hosted service layer. Find more information at https://imap.maryland.gov.Feature Service Layer Link:https://geodata.md.gov/imap/rest/services/Education/MD_EducationFacilities/FeatureServer/2

United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Male: % Net data was reported at 89.513 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 87.832 % for 2014. United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Male: % Net data is updated yearly, averaging 87.442 % from Dec 1987 (Median) to 2015, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 89.513 % in 2015 and a record low of 85.450 % in 2002. United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Male: % Net 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. Net enrollment rate is the ratio of children of official school age who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age. 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).

The Colleges and Universities feature class/shapefile is composed of all Post Secondary Education facilities as defined by the Integrated Post Secondary Education System (IPEDS, http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, https://nces.ed.gov/), US Department of Education for the 2018-2019 school year. Included are Doctoral/Research Universities, Masters Colleges and Universities, Baccalaureate Colleges, Associates Colleges, Theological seminaries, Medical Schools and other health care professions, Schools of engineering and technology, business and management, art, music, design, Law schools, Teachers colleges, Tribal colleges, and other specialized institutions. Overall, this data layer covers all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and other assorted U.S. territories. This feature class contains all MEDS/MEDS+ as approved by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Homeland Security Infrastructure Program (HSIP) Team. Complete field and attribute information is available in the ”Entities and Attributes” metadata section. Geographical coverage is depicted in the thumbnail above and detailed in the "Place Keyword" section of the metadata. This feature class does not have a relationship class but is related to Supplemental Colleges. Colleges and Universities that are not included in the NCES IPEDS data are added to the Supplemental Colleges feature class when found. This release includes the addition of 175 new records, the removal of 468 no longer reported by NCES, and modifications to the spatial location and/or attribution of 6682 records.

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.

Maryland has 200+ higher education facilities located throughout the entire State. Maryland boasts a highly educated workforce with 300,000+ graduates from higher education institutions every year. Higher education opportunities range from two year, public and private institutions, four year, public and private institutions and regional education centers. Collectively, Maryland's higher education facilities offer every kind of educational experience, whether for the traditional college students or for students who have already begun a career and are working to learn new skills. Maryland is proud that nearly one-third of its residents 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher, ranking in the top 5 amongst all states. Maryland's economic diversity and educational vitality is what makes it one of the best states in the nation in which to live, learn, work and raise a family.This is a MD iMAP hosted service layer. Find more information at https://imap.maryland.gov.Feature Service Layer Link:https://mdgeodata.md.gov/imap/rest/services/Education/MD_EducationFacilities/FeatureServer/4

Maryland has 200+ higher education facilities located throughout the entire State. Maryland boasts a highly educated workforce with 300,000+ graduates from higher education institutions every year. Higher education opportunities range from two year, public and private institutions, four year, public and private institutions and regional education centers. Collectively, Maryland's higher education facilities offer every kind of educational experience, whether for the traditional college students or for students who have already begun a career and are working to learn new skills. Maryland is proud that nearly one-third of its residents 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher, ranking in the top 5 amongst all states. Maryland's economic diversity and educational vitality is what makes it one of the best states in the nation in which to live, learn, work and raise a family.

While enrolment in tertiary education has increased dramatically over the past decades, many university-aged students do not enrol, nor do they expect to earn a university degree. While it is important to promote high expectations for further education, it is equally important to ensure that students’ expectations are well-aligned with their actual abilities. Grade Expectations: How Marks and Education Policies Shape Students' Ambitions reveals some of the factors that influence students’ thinking about further education. The report also suggests what teachers and education policy makers can do to ensure that more students have the skills, as well as the motivation, to succeed in higher education. In 2009, students in 21 PISA-participating countries and economies were asked about their expected educational attainment. An analysis of PISA data finds that students who expect to earn a university degree show significantly better performance in math and reading when compared to students who do not expect to earn such a university degree. However, performance is only one of the factors that determine expectations. On average across most countries and economies, girls and socio-economically advantaged students tend to hold more ambitious expectations than boys and disadvantaged students who perform just as well; and students with higher school marks are more likely to expect to earn a university degree – regardless of what those marks really measure.

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.

US: School Enrollment: Preprimary: Female: % Gross data was reported at 68.891 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 70.205 % for 2014. US: School Enrollment: Preprimary: Female: % Gross data is updated yearly, averaging 63.943 % from Dec 1981 (Median) to 2015, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 70.447 % in 1996 and a record low of 51.131 % in 1981. US: School Enrollment: Preprimary: 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. Preprimary education refers to programs at the initial stage of organized instruction, designed primarily to introduce very young children to a school-type environment and to provide a bridge between home and school.; ; 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 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.