Metric scores are not reported for n-sizes under 10. Per OSSE's policy, secondary suppression is applied to all student groups when a complementary group has an n-size under 10 or is top/bottom suppressed to prevent the calculation of suppressed data.

Data Source: DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education

Why This Matters

Graduating from high school is a critical step in advancing along educational and professional paths. Many careers and almost all colleges require a high school diploma or GED.

Educational attainment is strongly linked with socioeconomic and health outcomes. Americans who graduate high school tend to have higher incomes than those who do not. High school graduates also tend to live longer, healthier, and happier lives.

Black, Hispanic, and Native American students in the U.S. have lower graduation rates, on average, than white students. Segregation and historical disinvestment in communities of color play a significant role in these disparities. Poverty and limited educational resources act as barriers to graduation.

The District Response

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)’s Reimagining High School Graduation Requirements initiative aims to identify and implement new high school graduation requirements that incorporate outcome measures and support innovative approaches to preparing young people for life after graduation.

The District of Columbia Public Schools offers a number of supports to both proactively aid students in graduating and assist those at risk of not graduating.

Since 2014, those who pass the GED receive a State High School Diploma instead of a GED credential. This more accurately represents the dedication, hard work, and demonstration of skill it takes for residents to successfully complete this alternative path to a high school diploma.

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.

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).

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 1992 to 2023 for Sparkman High School vs. Alabama and Madison County School District

School enrollment data are used to assess the socioeconomic condition of school-age children. Government agencies also require these data for funding allocations and program planning and implementation.

Data on school enrollment and grade or level attending were derived from answers to Question 10 in the 2015 American Community Survey (ACS). People were classified as enrolled in school if they were attending a public or private school or college at any time during the 3 months prior to the time of interview. The question included instructions to “include only nursery or preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, home school, and schooling which leads to a high school diploma, or a college degree.” Respondents who did not answer the enrollment question were assigned the enrollment status and type of school of a person with the same age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino origin whose residence was in the same or nearby area.

School enrollment is only recorded if the schooling advances a person toward an elementary school certificate, a high school diploma, or a college, university, or professional school (such as law or medicine) degree. Tutoring or correspondence schools are included if credit can be obtained from a public or private school or college. People enrolled in “vocational, technical, or business school” such as post secondary vocational, trade, hospital school, and on job training were not reported as enrolled in school. Field interviewers were instructed to classify individuals who were home schooled as enrolled in private school. The guide sent out with the mail questionnaire includes instructions for how to classify home schoolers.

Enrolled in Public and Private School – Includes people who attended school in the reference period and indicated they were enrolled by marking one of the questionnaire categories for “public school, public college,” or “private school, private college, home school.” The instruction guide defines a public school as “any school or college controlled and supported primarily by a local, county, state, or federal government.” Private schools are defined as schools supported and controlled primarily by religious organizations or other private groups. Home schools are defined as “parental-guided education outside of public or private school for grades 1-12.” Respondents who marked both the “public” and “private” boxes are edited to the first entry, “public.”

Grade in Which Enrolled – From 1999-2007, in the ACS, people reported to be enrolled in “public school, public college” or “private school, private college” were classified by grade or level according to responses to Question 10b, “What grade or level was this person attending?” Seven levels were identified: “nursery school, preschool;” “kindergarten;” elementary “grade 1 to grade 4” or “grade 5 to grade 8;” high school “grade 9 to grade 12;” “college undergraduate years (freshman to senior);” and “graduate or professional school (for example: medical, dental, or law school).”

In 2008, the school enrollment questions had several changes. “Home school” was explicitly included in the “private school, private college” category. For question 10b the categories changed to the following “Nursery school, preschool,” “Kindergarten,” “Grade 1 through grade 12,” “College undergraduate years (freshman to senior),” “Graduate or professional school beyond a bachelor’s degree (for example: MA or PhD program, or medical or law school).” The survey question allowed a write-in for the grades enrolled from 1-12.

Question/Concept History – Since 1999, the ACS enrollment status question (Question 10a) refers to “regular school or college,” while the 1996-1998 ACS did not restrict reporting to “regular” school, and contained an additional category for the “vocational, technical or business school.” The 1996-1998 ACS used the educational attainment question to estimate level of enrollment for those reported to be enrolled in school, and had a single year write-in for the attainment of grades 1 through 11. Grade levels estimated using the attainment question were not consistent with other estimates, so a new question specifically asking grade or level of enrollment was added starting with the 1999 ACS questionnaire.

Limitation of the Data – Beginning in 2006, the population universe in the ACS includes people living in group quarters. Data users may see slight differences in levels of school enrollment in any given geographic area due to the inclusion of this population. The extent of this difference, if any, depends on the type of group quarters present and whether the group quarters population makes up a large proportion of the total population. For example, in areas that are home to several colleges and universities, the percent of individuals 18 to 24 who were enrolled in college or graduate school would increase, as people living in college dormitories are now included in the universe.

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 1996 to 2023 for Franklin High School vs. Michigan and Livonia Public Schools School District

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 2004 to 2023 for Lewiston High School vs. Maine and Lewiston School District

This dataset is imported from the US Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and its "Data Explorer" site. The underlying data comes from the US Census

1. dataset: Specifies the month and year of the survey as a string, in "Mon YYYY" format. The CPS is a monthly survey, and NTIA periodically sponsors Supplements to that survey.

2. variable: Contains the standardized name of the variable being measured. NTIA identified the availability of similar data across Supplements, and assigned variable names to ease time-series comparisons.

3. description: Provides a concise description of the variable.

4. universe: Specifies the variable representing the universe of persons or households included in the variable's statistics. The specified variable is always included in the file. The only variables lacking universes are isPerson and isHouseholder, as they are themselves the broadest universes measured in the CPS.

5. A large number of *Prop, *PropSE, *Count, and *CountSE columns comprise the remainder of the columns. For each demographic being measured (see below), four statistics are produced, including the estimated proportion of the group for which the variable is true (*Prop), the standard error of that proportion (*PropSE), the estimated number of persons or households in that group for which the variable is true (*Count), and the standard error of that count (*CountSE).

DEMOGRAPHIC CATEGORIES

1. us: The usProp, usPropSE, usCount, and usCountSE columns contain statistics about all persons and households in the universe (which represents the population of the fifty states and the District and Columbia). For example, to see how the prevelance of Internet use by Americans has changed over time, look at the usProp column for each survey's internetUser variable.

2. age: The age category is divided into five ranges: ages 3-14, 15-24, 25-44, 45-64, and 65+. The CPS only includes data on Americans ages 3 and older. Also note that household reference persons must be at least 15 years old, so the age314* columns are blank for household-based variables. Those columns are also blank for person-based variables where the universe is "isAdult" (or a sub-universe of "isAdult"), as the CPS defines adults as persons ages 15 or older. Finally, note that some variables where children are technically in the univese will show zero values for the age314* columns. This occurs in cases where a variable simply cannot be true of a child (e.g. the workInternetUser variable, as the CPS presumes children under 15 are not eligible to work), but the topic of interest is relevant to children (e.g. locations of Internet use).

3. work: Employment status is divided into "Employed," "Unemployed," and "NILF" (Not in the Labor Force). These three categories reflect the official BLS definitions used in official labor force statistics. Note that employment status is only recorded in the CPS for individuals ages 15 and older. As a result, children are excluded from the universe when calculating statistics by work status, even if they are otherwise considered part of the universe for the variable of interest.

4. income: The income category represents annual family income, rather than just an individual person's income. It is divided into five ranges: below $25K, $25K-49,999, $50K-74,999, $75K-99,999, and $100K or more. Statistics by income group are only available in this file for Supplements beginning in 2010; prior to 2010, family income range is available in public use datasets, but is not directly comparable to newer datasets due to the 2010 introduction of the practice of allocating "don't know," "refused," and other responses that result in missing data. Prior to 2010, family income is unkown for approximately 20 percent of persons, while in 2010 the Census Bureau began imputing likely income ranges to replace missing data.

5. education: Educational attainment is divided into "No Diploma," "High School Grad," "Some College," and "College Grad." High school graduates are considered to include GED completers, and those with some college include community college attendees (and graduates) and those who have attended certain postsecondary vocational or technical schools--in other words, it signifies additional education beyond high school, but short of attaining a bachelor's degree or equivilent. Note that educational attainment is only recorded in the CPS for individuals ages 15 and older. As a result, children are excluded from the universe when calculating statistics by education, even if they are otherwise considered part of the universe for the variable of interest.

6. sex: "Male" and "Female" are the two groups in this category. The CPS does not currently provide response options for intersex individuals.

7. race: This category includes "White," "Black," "Hispanic," "Asian," "Am Indian," and "Other" groups. The CPS asks about Hispanic origin separately from racial identification; as a result, all persons identifying as Hispanic are in the Hispanic group, regardless of how else they identify. Furthermore, all non-Hispanic persons identifying with two or more races are tallied in the "Other" group (along with other less-prevelant responses). The Am Indian group includes both American Indians and Alaska Natives.

8. disability: Disability status is divided into "No" and "Yes" groups, indicating whether the person was identified as having a disability. Disabilities screened for in the CPS include hearing impairment, vision impairment (not sufficiently correctable by glasses), cognitive difficulties arising from physical, mental, or emotional conditions, serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs, difficulty dressing or bathing, and difficulties performing errands due to physical, mental, or emotional conditions. The Census Bureau began collecting data on disability status in June 2008; accordingly, this category is unavailable in Supplements prior to that date. Note that disability status is only recorded in the CPS for individuals ages 15 and older. As a result, children are excluded from the universe when calculating statistics by disability status, even if they are otherwise considered part of the universe for the variable of interest.

9. metro: Metropolitan status is divided into "No," "Yes," and "Unkown," reflecting information in the dataset about the household's location. A household located within a metropolitan statistical area is assigned to the Yes group, and those outside such areas are assigned to No. However, due to the risk of de-anonymization, the metropolitan area status of certain households is unidentified in public use datasets. In those cases, the Census Bureau has determined that revealing this geographic information poses a disclosure risk. Such households are tallied in the Unknown group.

10. scChldHome:

Historical Dataset of Carbon High School is provided by PublicSchoolReview and contain statistics on metrics:Total Students Trends Over Years (1987-2023),Total Classroom Teachers Trends Over Years (1991-2023),Distribution of Students By Grade Trends,Student-Teacher Ratio Comparison Over Years (1990-2023),American Indian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1997-2023),Asian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1995-2022),Hispanic Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1992-2023),Black Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2007-2009),White Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1992-2023),Two or More Races Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2011-2023),Diversity Score Comparison Over Years (1992-2023),Free Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (1992-2023),Reduced-Price Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (1999-2023),Reading and Language Arts Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2010-2021),Math Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2010-2021),Overall School Rank Trends Over Years (2011-2022),Graduation Rate Comparison Over Years (2011-2022)

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 1993 to 2023 for Spearfish High School - 01 vs. South Dakota and Spearfish School District 40-2

Historical Dataset of Union High School is provided by PublicSchoolReview and contain statistics on metrics:Total Students Trends Over Years (1987-2023),Total Classroom Teachers Trends Over Years (1991-2023),Distribution of Students By Grade Trends,Student-Teacher Ratio Comparison Over Years (1990-2023),American Indian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1991-2023),Asian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1990-2010),Hispanic Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1991-2023),White Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1991-2023),Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2011-2023),Two or More Races Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2013-2023),Diversity Score Comparison Over Years (1991-2023),Free Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (1992-2023),Reduced-Price Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (2001-2023),Reading and Language Arts Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2010-2021),Math Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2010-2021),Overall School Rank Trends Over Years (2011-2022),Graduation Rate Comparison Over Years (2011-2022)

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 2005 to 2023 for Meridian High School vs. Idaho and Joint School District No. 2

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 2003 to 2023 for Kingman High School vs. Arizona and Kingman Unified School District (79598)

Historical Dataset of Cut Bank High School District is provided by PublicSchoolReview and contain statistics on metrics:Comparison of Diversity Score Trends,Total Revenues Trends,Total Expenditure Trends,Average Revenue Per Student Trends,Average Expenditure Per Student Trends,Reading and Language Arts Proficiency Trends,Math Proficiency Trends,Science Proficiency Trends,Graduation Rate Trends,Overall School District Rank Trends,American Indian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1993-2023),Asian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2002-2022),Hispanic Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2003-2023),Black Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2013-2023),White Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1993-2023),Two or More Races Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2013-2023),Comparison of Students By Grade Trends

Historical Dataset of Sparkman High School is provided by PublicSchoolReview and contain statistics on metrics:Total Students Trends Over Years (1987-2023),Total Classroom Teachers Trends Over Years (1987-2023),Distribution of Students By Grade Trends,Student-Teacher Ratio Comparison Over Years (1987-2023),American Indian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1992-2023),Asian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1993-2023),Hispanic Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1999-2023),Black Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1992-2023),White Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (1992-2023),Two or More Races Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2013-2023),Diversity Score Comparison Over Years (1992-2023),Free Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (1999-2023),Reduced-Price Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (1999-2023),Reading and Language Arts Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2011-2022),Math Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2011-2022),Science Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2021-2022),Overall School Rank Trends Over Years (2011-2022),Graduation Rate Comparison Over Years (2012-2022)

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 1993 to 2023 for Columbia Falls High School vs. Montana and Columbia Falls High School District

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 1991 to 2023 for Richmond Senior High School vs. North Carolina and Richmond County Schools School District

Historical Dataset of Stuyvesant High School is provided by PublicSchoolReview and contain statistics on metrics:Total Students Trends Over Years (2007-2023),Total Classroom Teachers Trends Over Years (2007-2023),Distribution of Students By Grade Trends,Student-Teacher Ratio Comparison Over Years (2007-2023),American Indian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2021-2023),Asian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2007-2023),Hispanic Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2007-2023),Black Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2007-2023),White Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2007-2023),Two or More Races Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2013-2023),Diversity Score Comparison Over Years (2007-2023),Free Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (2006-2023),Reduced-Price Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (2006-2023),Reading and Language Arts Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2011-2022),Math Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2011-2022),Science Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2021-2022),Overall School Rank Trends Over Years (2011-2022),Graduation Rate Comparison Over Years (2012-2022)

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 2001 to 2011 for West High School vs. Iowa and Davenport Comm School District

This dataset tracks annual american indian student percentage from 1990 to 2022 for Tahoma Senior High School vs. Washington and Tahoma School District