In 2022, Canada had the highest share of adults with a university degree, at over 60 percent of those between the ages of 25 and 64. India had the smallest share of people with a university degree, at 13 percent of the adult population. University around the world Deciding which university to attend can be a difficult decision for some and in today’s world, people are not left wanting for choice. There are thousands of universities around the world, with the highest number found in India and Indonesia. When picking which school to attend, some look to university rankings, where Harvard University in the United States consistently comes in on top. Moving on up One of the major perks of attending university is that it enables people to move up in the world. Getting a good education is generally seen as a giant step along the path to success and opens up doors for future employment. Future earnings potential can be determined by which university one attends, whether by the prestige of the university or the connections that have been made there. For instance, graduates from the Stanford Graduate School of Business can expect to earn around 250,000 U.S. dollars annually.

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.

Colleges and UniversitiesThis feature layer, utilizing data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), displays colleges and universities in the U.S. and its territories. NCES uses the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) as the "primary source for information on U.S. colleges, universities, and technical and vocational institutions." According to NCES, this layer "contains directory information for every institution in the 2021-22 IPEDS universe. Includes name, address, city, state, zip code and various URL links to the institution's home page, admissions, financial aid offices and the net price calculator. Identifies institutions as currently active, institutions that participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs for which IPEDS is mandatory. It also includes variables derived from the 2021-22 Institutional Characteristics survey, such as control and level of institution, highest level and highest degree offered and Carnegie classifications."Gallaudet UniversityData currency: 2021Data source: IPEDS Complete Data FilesData modification: Removed fields with coded values and replaced with descriptionsFor more information: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data SystemSupport documentation: IPEDS Complete Data Files > Directory Information > DictionaryFor feedback, please contact: ArcGIScomNationalMaps@esri.comU.S. Department of Education (ED)Per ED, "ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.ED was created in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies." ED's employees and budget "are dedicated to:Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds.Collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research.Focusing national attention on key educational issues.Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education."

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.

The National Survey of College Graduates is a repeated cross-sectional biennial survey that provides data on the nation's college graduates, with a focus on those in the science and engineering workforce. This survey is a unique source for examining the relationship of degree field and occupation in addition to other characteristics of college-educated individuals, including work activities, salary, and demographic information.

Graph and download economic data for Civilian Labor Force: College Graduates: Advanced Degree: Master's Degree and Higher, 16 to 17 years (CGADL1617) from May 2015 to Feb 2025 about 16 to 17 years, master's degree, tertiary schooling, civilian, education, labor force, labor, household survey, and USA.

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

Bachelor’s degrees in the United States

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

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

Bachelor's degrees and earnings

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

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.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - Some College, No Degree, 25 to 64 years (SCND2564) from Jan 2000 to Feb 2025 about 25 to 64 years, tertiary schooling, education, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Master's Degree, 25 to 34 years (CGMD2534) from Jan 2000 to Feb 2025 about master's degree, 25 to 34 years, tertiary schooling, education, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Master's Degree, 25 years and over (CGMD25O) from Jan 2000 to Feb 2025 about master's degree, 25 years +, tertiary schooling, education, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Master's Degree, 25 to 64 years, Women (CGMD2564W) from Jan 2000 to Feb 2025 about master's degree, 25 to 64 years, females, tertiary schooling, education, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate: College Graduates: Advanced Degree: Master's Degree and Higher, 18 to 19 years (CGAD1819) from Oct 2015 to Jan 2022 about 18 to 19 years, master's degree, tertiary schooling, education, household survey, unemployment, rate, 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.

HEA Higher Education Student and Graduate Data. Published by Higher Education Authority. Available under the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0).This data comes from the HEA's Student Record System (SRS). These are annual returns submitted to the HEA by each of the HEA-funded higher education institutions in Ireland. For further information, please visit www.hea.ie/statistics....

University expenditure, by source of funds (governments, student fees, other sources) and type of expenditures (e.g. Operating and sponsored research, capital, student support).

France FR: Educational Attainment: At Least Bachelor's or Equivalent: Population 25+ Years: Male: % Cumulative data was reported at 18.240 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 17.196 % for 2014. France FR: Educational Attainment: At Least Bachelor's or Equivalent: Population 25+ Years: Male: % Cumulative data is updated yearly, averaging 17.718 % from Dec 2014 (Median) to 2015, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18.240 % in 2015 and a record low of 17.196 % in 2014. France FR: Educational Attainment: At Least Bachelor's or Equivalent: Population 25+ Years: Male: % Cumulative data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s France – Table FR.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. The percentage of population ages 25 and over that attained or completed Bachelor's or equivalent.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; ;

Source: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (FROM 2011), NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE, NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY, SINGAPORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (FROM 2012), SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN (FROM 2015), SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (FROM 2017)

Data Last Updated: 18/02/2025

Update Frequency: Annual

Footnotes: Data prior to 2015 are classified according to the Singapore Standard Educational Classification (SSEC) 2010 while data for 2015 to 2019 and from 2020 are classified according to SSEC 2015 and SSEC 2020 respectively. Covers full-time and part-time first degree courses. Data refer to academic year. With effect from 2011, data included source from MOE. From 2012, data includes students graduated from Singapore Institute of Technology. From 2015, data includes students graduated from Singapore University of Technology and Design. With effect from 2017, there are courses whose main field of study is not elsewhere classifiable.

Adapted from: https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/TS/M850511

Participation rate in education, population aged 18 to 34, by age group and type of institution attended, Canada, provinces and territories. This table is included in Section E: Transitions and outcomes: Transitions to postsecondary education of the Pan Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP). PCEIP draws from a wide variety of data sources to provide information on the school-age population, elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, transitions, and labour market outcomes. The program presents indicators for all of Canada, the provinces, the territories, as well as selected international comparisons and comparisons over time. PCEIP is an ongoing initiative of the Canadian Education Statistics Council, a partnership between Statistics Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada that provides a set of statistical measures on education systems in Canada.

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