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Digest of Education Statistics
2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 104.10. Rates of high school completion and bachelor's degree attainment among persons age 25 and over, by race/ethnicity and sex: Selected years, 1910 through 2021
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Sex, high school or bachelor's degree attainment, and year Total, percent of all persons age 25 and over White Black Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander American Indian/
Alaska Native
Two or more races
Total Asian Pacific Islander
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Total                                        
High school completion
    or higher1
                                       
19102 13.5 (---) ---   (†) ---   (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
19202 16.4 (---) ---   (†) ---   (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
19302 19.1 (---) ---   (†) ---   (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1940 24.5 (---) 26.1 3 (---) 7.7 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1950 34.3 (---) 36.4 3 (---) 13.7 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1960
41.1 (---) 43.2 3 (---) 21.7 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1970 55.2 (---) 57.4 3 (---) 36.1 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1975 62.5 (---) 65.8 3 (---) 42.6 3 (---) 38.5 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1980 68.6 (0.20) 71.9   (0.21) 51.4   (0.81) 44.5 (1.18) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1985 73.9 (0.18) 77.5   (0.19) 59.9   (0.74) 47.9 (0.99) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1986
74.7 (0.18) 78.2   (0.19) 62.5   (0.72) 48.5 (0.96) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1987 75.6 (0.17) 79.0   (0.18) 63.6   (0.71) 50.9 (0.94) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1988 76.2 (0.17) 79.8   (0.18) 63.5   (0.70) 51.0 (0.92) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1989 76.9 (0.17) 80.7   (0.18) 64.7   (0.69) 50.9 (0.89) 82.3 (1.17) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1990 77.6 (0.17) 81.4   (0.17) 66.2   (0.67) 50.8 (0.88) 84.2 (1.09) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1991
78.4 (0.16) 82.4   (0.17) 66.8   (0.66) 51.3 (0.86) 84.2 (1.05) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1992 79.4 (0.16) 83.4   (0.16) 67.7   (0.65) 52.6 (0.85) 83.7 (1.02) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1993 80.2 (0.16) 84.1   (0.16) 70.5   (0.63) 53.1 (0.83) 84.2 (1.00) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1994 80.9 (0.15) 84.9   (0.16) 73.0   (0.61) 53.3 (0.78) 84.8 (0.98) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1995 81.7 (0.15) 85.9   (0.16) 73.8   (0.61) 53.4 (0.78) 83.8 (1.06) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1996
81.7 (0.16) 86.0   (0.16) 74.6   (0.53) 53.1 (0.68) 83.5 (0.82) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1997 82.1 (0.14) 86.3   (0.15) 75.3   (0.52) 54.7 (0.54) 85.2 (0.75) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1998 82.8 (0.14) 87.1   (0.14) 76.4   (0.50) 55.5 (0.53) 84.9 (0.74) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1999 83.4 (0.14) 87.7   (0.14) 77.4   (0.49) 56.1 (0.52) 84.7 (0.73) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2000 84.1 (0.13) 88.4   (0.14) 78.9   (0.48) 57.0 (0.51) 85.7 (0.71) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

2001
84.3 (0.13) 88.7   (0.13) 79.5   (0.47) 56.5 (0.50) 87.8 (0.60) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2002 84.1 (0.09) 88.7   (0.10) 79.2   (0.34) 57.0 (0.34) 87.7 (0.44) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2003 84.6 (0.09) 89.4   (0.09) 80.3   (0.33) 57.0 (0.33) 87.8 (0.43) 87.8 (0.44) 88.2 (1.87) 77.2 (1.64) 86.1 (0.97)
2004 85.2 (0.09) 90.0   (0.09) 81.1   (0.32) 58.4 (0.32) 86.9 (0.43) 86.9 (0.44) 88.5 (1.91) 77.8 (1.61) 87.2 (0.91)
2005 85.2 (0.14) 90.1   (0.16) 81.4   (0.44) 58.5 (0.53) 87.8 (0.62) 87.7 (0.62) 90.1 (2.69) 75.6 (2.02) 88.6 (0.83)

2006
85.5 (0.15) 90.5   (0.15) 81.2   (0.43) 59.3 (0.58) 87.5 (0.71) 87.5 (0.71) 85.7 (2.51) 78.5 (2.11) 88.1 (0.90)
2007 85.7 (0.15) 90.6   (0.15) 82.8   (0.39) 60.3 (0.56) 88.0 (0.79) 87.9 (0.81) 88.6 (2.30) 80.3 (2.27) 89.3 (0.87)
2008 86.6 (0.15) 91.5   (0.15) 83.3   (0.40) 62.3 (0.58) 89.0 (0.62) 88.8 (0.64) 94.4 (1.00) 78.4 (2.74) 89.5 (1.12)
2009 86.7 (0.15) 91.6   (0.15) 84.2   (0.44) 61.9 (0.56) 88.4 (0.61) 88.3 (0.63) 90.8 (1.76) 81.5 (1.83) 87.4 (0.96)
2010 87.1 (0.13) 92.1   (0.14) 84.6   (0.41) 62.9 (0.53) 89.1 (0.67) 89.1 (0.68) 90.2 (1.95) 80.8 (1.76) 88.9 (0.90)

2011
87.6 (0.13) 92.4   (0.14) 84.8   (0.41) 64.3 (0.54) 88.8 (0.55) 88.7 (0.57) 90.4 (1.61) 82.3 (1.77) 89.4 (1.00)
2012 87.6 (0.15) 92.5   (0.14) 85.7   (0.40) 65.0 (0.59) 89.2 (0.59) 89.0 (0.61) 91.6 (1.33) 81.8 (1.69) 91.0 (0.89)
2013 88.2 (0.14) 92.9   (0.13) 85.9   (0.42) 66.2 (0.52) 90.2 (0.51) 90.2 (0.53) 89.5 (1.72) 82.2 (1.68) 92.6 (0.75)
2014 88.3 (0.15) 93.1   (0.17) 86.7   (0.45) 66.5 (0.57) 89.5 (0.62) 89.5 (0.64) 88.8 (2.15) 81.0 (2.01) 93.3 (0.88)
2015 88.4 (0.12) 93.3   (0.13) 87.7   (0.37) 66.7 (0.48) 88.9 (0.49) 89.1 (0.51) 85.1 (2.04) 83.8 (1.64) 91.6 (0.87)

2016
89.1 (0.13) 93.8   (0.13) 87.7   (0.34) 68.5 (0.48) 90.7 (0.49) 90.6 (0.51) 93.3 (1.38) 84.7 (1.35) 92.8 (0.83)
2017 89.6 (0.12) 94.1   (0.13) 88.1   (0.37) 70.5 (0.47) 90.9 (0.47) 90.9 (0.49) 89.3 (2.03) 85.3 (1.36) 93.4 (0.71)
2018 89.8 (0.12) 94.3   (0.13) 88.6   (0.33) 71.6 (0.40) 90.6 (0.40) 90.6 (0.41) 90.6 (1.77) 83.6 (1.32) 93.2 (0.61)
2019 90.1 (0.12) 94.6   (0.11) 88.8   (0.38) 71.8 (0.48) 91.3 (0.45) 91.2 (0.46) 93.8 (1.32) 87.9 (1.31) 92.6 (0.84)
2020 90.9 (0.13) 95.1   (0.13) 90.0   (0.33) 74.3 (0.44) 91.8 (0.47) 91.7 (0.48) 93.1 (1.67) 88.6 (1.37) 93.3 (0.92)
2021 91.1 (0.12) 95.1   (0.13) 90.8   (0.30) 74.2 (0.47) 93.1 (0.41) 93.2 (0.43) 91.1 (2.50) 88.0 (1.23) 94.5 (0.66)

Bachelor's or higher
    degree4
                                       
19102 2.7 (---) ---   (†) ---   (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
19202 3.3 (---) ---   (†) ---   (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
19302 3.9 (---) ---   (†) ---   (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1940 4.6 (---) 4.9 3 (---) 1.3 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1950 6.2 (---) 6.6 3 (---) 2.2 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1960
7.7 (---) 8.1 3 (---) 3.5 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1970 11.0 (---) 11.6 3 (---) 6.1 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1975 13.9 (---) 14.9 3 (---) 6.4 3 (---) 6.6 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1980 17.0 (0.16) 18.4   (0.18) 7.9   (0.44) 7.6 (0.63) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1985 19.4 (0.16) 20.8   (0.19) 11.1   (0.47) 8.5 (0.55) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1986
19.4 (0.16) 20.9   (0.19) 10.9   (0.47) 8.4 (0.53) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1987 19.9 (0.16) 21.4   (0.19) 10.8   (0.46) 8.6 (0.53) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1988 20.3 (0.16) 21.8   (0.19) 11.2   (0.46) 10.0 (0.55) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1989 21.1 (0.16) 22.8   (0.19) 11.7   (0.46) 9.9 (0.53) 41.5 (1.51) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1990 21.3 (0.16) 23.1   (0.19) 11.3   (0.45) 9.2 (0.51) 41.7 (1.47) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1991
21.4 (0.16) 23.3   (0.19) 11.5   (0.45) 9.7 (0.51) 40.3 (1.42) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1992 21.4 (0.16) 23.2   (0.19) 11.9   (0.45) 9.3 (0.49) 39.3 (1.35) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1993 21.9 (0.16) 23.8   (0.19) 12.2   (0.45) 9.0 (0.48) 42.1 (1.35) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1994 22.2 (0.16) 24.3   (0.19) 12.9   (0.46) 9.1 (0.45) 41.3 (1.34) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1995 23.0 (0.16) 25.4   (0.19) 13.3   (0.47) 9.3 (0.45) 38.5 (1.40) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1996
23.6 (0.17) 25.9   (0.20) 13.8   (0.42) 9.3 (0.40) 42.3 (1.09) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1997 23.9 (0.16) 26.2   (0.19) 13.3   (0.41) 10.3 (0.33) 42.6 (1.04) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1998 24.4 (0.16) 26.6   (0.19) 14.8   (0.42) 11.0 (0.33) 42.3 (1.02) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1999 25.2 (0.16) 27.7   (0.19) 15.5   (0.43) 10.9 (0.33) 42.4 (1.01) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2000 25.6 (0.16) 28.1   (0.19) 16.6   (0.44) 10.6 (0.32) 44.4 (1.00) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

2001
26.1 (0.16) 28.6   (0.19) 16.1   (0.43) 11.2 (0.32) 48.0 (0.92) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2002 26.7 (0.11) 29.4   (0.14) 17.2   (0.31) 11.1 (0.21) 47.7 (0.66) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2003 27.2 (0.11) 30.0   (0.14) 17.4   (0.31) 11.4 (0.21) 48.8 (0.65) 50.0 (0.67) 27.0 (2.56) 12.6 (1.30) 22.0 (1.17)
2004 27.7 (0.11) 30.6   (0.14) 17.7   (0.31) 12.1 (0.21) 48.9 (0.64) 49.7 (0.66) 32.4 (2.81) 14.3 (1.36) 21.8 (1.13)
2005 27.7 (0.23) 30.6   (0.29) 17.6   (0.45) 12.0 (0.31) 49.3 (0.91) 50.4 (0.93) 24.6 (3.67) 14.5 (1.51) 23.2 (1.19)

2006
28.0 (0.20) 31.0   (0.25) 18.6   (0.47) 12.4 (0.32) 49.1 (1.04) 50.0 (1.06) 26.9 (3.42) 12.9 (1.60) 23.1 (1.28)
2007 28.7 (0.21) 31.8   (0.27) 18.7   (0.51) 12.7 (0.31) 51.2 (1.02) 52.5 (1.03) 23.8 (3.30) 13.1 (1.24) 23.7 (1.30)
2008 29.4 (0.21) 32.6   (0.26) 19.7   (0.51) 13.3 (0.29) 51.9 (0.95) 52.9 (0.97) 28.4 (2.86) 14.9 (1.52) 24.4 (1.36)
2009 29.5 (0.21) 32.9   (0.26) 19.4   (0.45) 13.2 (0.34) 51.6 (0.91) 52.8 (0.95) 28.3 (2.68) 17.5 (2.08) 25.5 (1.34)
2010 29.9 (0.19) 33.2   (0.24) 20.0   (0.51) 13.9 (0.31) 51.6 (1.04) 52.8 (1.09) 25.6 (2.89) 16.0 (1.77) 25.3 (1.30)

2011
30.4 (0.19) 34.0   (0.24) 20.2   (0.50) 14.1 (0.34) 49.5 (0.92) 50.8 (0.96) 22.1 (2.73) 16.1 (1.73) 27.4 (1.27)
2012 30.9 (0.21) 34.5   (0.27) 21.4   (0.53) 14.5 (0.35) 50.7 (0.92) 51.9 (0.94) 24.5 (2.75) 16.7 (1.82) 27.1 (1.34)
2013 31.7 (0.21) 35.2   (0.26) 22.0   (0.49) 15.1 (0.34) 52.5 (0.92) 53.9 (0.93) 25.6 (2.66) 15.4 (1.72) 30.6 (1.35)
2014 32.0 (0.27) 35.6   (0.35) 22.8   (0.66) 15.2 (0.39) 51.3 (1.00) 52.7 (1.02) 22.3 (3.27) 13.8 (1.43) 31.2 (1.81)
2015 32.5 (0.22) 36.2   (0.28) 22.9   (0.52) 15.5 (0.31) 52.9 (0.84) 54.4 (0.87) 22.8 (2.39) 19.8 (1.32) 30.6 (1.52)

2016
33.4 (0.24) 37.3   (0.31) 23.5   (0.46) 16.4 (0.40) 55.1 (0.87) 56.4 (0.89) 27.5 (2.92) 16.8 (1.39) 30.6 (1.52)
2017 34.2 (0.24) 38.1   (0.31) 24.3   (0.49) 17.2 (0.35) 53.9 (0.84) 55.4 (0.88) 25.1 (2.81) 20.5 (1.92) 32.6 (1.39)
2018 35.0 (0.26) 38.8   (0.34) 25.6   (0.53) 18.3 (0.37) 55.6 (0.81) 57.1 (0.80) 24.1 (2.34) 18.8 (1.72) 32.4 (1.40)
2019 36.0 (0.23) 40.1   (0.33) 26.3   (0.51) 18.8 (0.35) 57.3 (0.78) 58.6 (0.79) 28.1 (2.78) 16.8 (1.40) 34.1 (1.38)
2020 37.5 (0.24) 41.3   (0.31) 27.9   (0.53) 20.8 (0.46) 60.3 (0.87) 61.7 (0.87) 29.4 (3.33) 19.7 (1.52) 35.2 (1.58)
2021 37.9 (0.24) 41.9   (0.34) 28.3   (0.53) 20.6 (0.40) 60.4 (0.83) 61.9 (0.84) 26.3 (3.20) 20.4 (1.73) 39.0 (1.49)

Males
                                       
High school completion
    or higher1
                                       
1940 22.7 (---) 24.2 3 (---) 6.9 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1950 32.6 (---) 34.6 3 (---) 12.6 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1960 39.5 (---) 41.6 3 (---) 20.0 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1970 55.0 (---) 57.2 3 (---) 35.4 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1980 69.2 (0.29) 72.4   (0.31) 51.2   (1.21) 44.9 (1.71) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1990 77.7 (0.24) 81.6   (0.25) 65.8   (1.01) 50.3 (1.25) 86.0 (1.49) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1995 81.7 (0.22) 86.0   (0.22) 73.5   (0.91) 52.9 (1.11) 85.8 (1.46) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1996
81.9 (0.23) 86.1   (0.23) 74.6   (0.80) 53.0 (0.97) 86.2 (1.10) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1997 82.0 (0.21) 86.3   (0.21) 73.8   (0.79) 54.9 (0.76) 87.5 (1.00) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1998 82.8 (0.20) 87.1   (0.21) 75.4   (0.77) 55.7 (0.74) 87.9 (0.98) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1999 83.4 (0.20) 87.7   (0.20) 77.2   (0.74) 56.0 (0.75) 86.9 (1.00) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2000 84.2 (0.19) 88.5   (0.20) 79.1   (0.72) 56.6 (0.73) 88.4 (0.94) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

2001
84.4 (0.19) 88.6   (0.19) 80.6   (0.69) 55.6 (0.72) 90.6 (0.78) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2002 83.8 (0.14) 88.5   (0.14) 79.0   (0.51) 56.1 (0.48) 89.8 (0.58) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2003 84.1 (0.13) 89.0   (0.14) 79.9   (0.50) 56.3 (0.46) 89.8 (0.58) 89.8 (0.59) 89.8 (2.61) 76.5 (2.33) 87.2 (1.36)
2004 84.8 (0.13) 89.9   (0.13) 80.8   (0.49) 57.3 (0.45) 88.8 (0.59) 88.8 (0.60) 88.9 (2.65) 77.1 (2.31) 87.8 (1.29)
2005 84.9 (0.19) 89.9   (0.20) 81.4   (0.60) 57.9 (0.69) 90.4 (0.65) 90.5 (0.66) 88.5 (3.62) 75.6 (2.57) 89.0 (1.19)

2006
85.0 (0.20) 90.2   (0.21) 80.7   (0.63) 58.5 (0.77) 89.5 (0.84) 89.7 (0.86) 85.8 (3.10) 78.1 (2.77) 88.0 (1.36)
2007 85.0 (0.21) 90.2   (0.22) 82.5   (0.55) 58.2 (0.80) 90.0 (0.81) 90.1 (0.82) 88.1 (2.75) 78.3 (3.58) 89.4 (1.28)
2008 85.9 (0.19) 91.1   (0.20) 82.1   (0.61) 60.9 (0.72) 91.0 (0.66) 90.8 (0.69) 95.8 (1.40) 77.3 (3.37) 89.6 (1.21)
2009 86.2 (0.19) 91.4   (0.20) 84.2   (0.60) 60.6 (0.72) 90.8 (0.66) 90.7 (0.68) 92.1 (2.18) 80.0 (2.33) 87.3 (1.26)
2010 86.6 (0.17) 91.8   (0.19) 84.2   (0.57) 61.4 (0.68) 91.4 (0.78) 91.5 (0.79) 89.3 (2.84) 78.9 (2.46) 88.1 (1.36)

2011
87.1 (0.18) 92.0   (0.17) 84.2   (0.55) 63.6 (0.71) 90.6 (0.68) 90.6 (0.69) 91.5 (2.22) 80.6 (2.35) 88.1 (1.40)
2012 87.3 (0.19) 92.2   (0.18) 85.1   (0.56) 64.0 (0.73) 90.6 (0.68) 90.5 (0.70) 93.3 (1.84) 81.8 (2.39) 90.2 (1.45)
2013 87.6 (0.17) 92.7   (0.17) 84.9   (0.62) 64.6 (0.66) 91.6 (0.57) 91.7 (0.57) 89.3 (2.48) 81.0 (2.11) 93.3 (1.03)
2014 87.7 (0.19) 92.5   (0.22) 86.3   (0.58) 65.1 (0.74) 91.8 (0.70) 91.9 (0.72) 90.0 (2.68) 80.2 (2.30) 93.8 (1.08)
2015 88.0 (0.16) 93.0   (0.16) 87.2   (0.48) 65.5 (0.63) 90.9 (0.56) 91.3 (0.58) 84.9 (2.83) 81.9 (2.12) 92.5 (1.23)

2016
88.5 (0.17) 93.4   (0.19) 87.0   (0.51) 67.2 (0.63) 92.3 (0.58) 92.2 (0.60) 94.9 (1.58) 84.1 (2.07) 92.8 (1.15)
2017 89.1 (0.16) 93.7   (0.18) 87.4   (0.53) 69.5 (0.59) 92.5 (0.55) 92.7 (0.55) 89.1 (2.77) 83.0 (1.96) 93.2 (1.15)
2018 89.4 (0.16) 93.9   (0.18) 88.3   (0.48) 70.7 (0.53) 92.8 (0.48) 92.9 (0.49) 92.2 (2.31) 79.3 (1.93) 92.5 (1.02)
2019 89.6 (0.16) 94.2   (0.15) 88.1   (0.54) 70.8 (0.59) 92.8 (0.52) 92.8 (0.54) 93.3 (2.11) 84.1 (1.96) 91.0 (1.17)
2020 90.6 (0.17) 94.8   (0.16) 89.1   (0.50) 73.8 (0.57) 92.8 (0.54) 92.8 (0.56) 92.6 (2.71) 86.2 (2.18) 92.6 (1.18)
2021 90.5 (0.17) 94.7   (0.17) 90.7   (0.44) 72.6 (0.66) 94.3 (0.44) 94.4 (0.46) 92.2 (2.76) 85.4 (1.83) 93.4 (1.04)

Bachelor's or higher
    degree4
                                       
1940 5.5 (---) 5.9 3 (---) 1.4 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1950 7.3 (---) 7.9 3 (---) 2.1 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1960 9.7 (---) 10.3 3 (---) 3.5 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1970 14.1 (---) 15.0 3 (---) 6.8 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1980 20.9 (0.26) 22.7   (0.29) 7.7   (0.65) 9.2 (0.99) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1990 24.4 (0.25) 26.7   (0.28) 11.9   (0.69) 9.8 (0.74) 45.9 (2.14) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1995 26.0 (0.25) 28.9   (0.29) 13.7   (0.71) 10.1 (0.67) 42.3 (2.06) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1996
26.0 (0.26) 28.8   (0.30) 12.5   (0.61) 10.3 (0.59) 46.9 (1.59) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1997 26.2 (0.24) 29.0   (0.28) 12.5   (0.60) 10.6 (0.47) 48.0 (1.51) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1998 26.5 (0.24) 29.3   (0.28) 14.0   (0.62) 11.1 (0.47) 46.0 (1.50) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1999 27.5 (0.24) 30.6   (0.28) 14.3   (0.62) 10.7 (0.46) 46.3 (1.48) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2000 27.8 (0.24) 30.8   (0.28) 16.4   (0.65) 10.7 (0.45) 48.1 (1.47) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

2001
28.0 (0.24) 30.9   (0.28) 15.9   (0.64) 11.1 (0.45) 52.9 (1.33) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2002 28.5 (0.17) 31.7   (0.20) 16.5   (0.47) 11.0 (0.30) 51.5 (0.96) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2003 28.9 (0.17) 32.3   (0.20) 16.8   (0.47) 11.2 (0.29) 52.8 (0.96) 54.2 (0.98) 25.7 (3.76) 13.1 (1.85) 21.9 (1.69)
2004 29.4 (0.17) 32.9   (0.20) 16.6   (0.46) 11.8 (0.30) 52.9 (0.93) 54.0 (0.95) 31.9 (3.94) 15.6 (1.99) 20.7 (1.60)
2005 28.9 (0.29) 32.4   (0.37) 16.0   (0.64) 11.8 (0.43) 53.0 (1.10) 54.3 (1.13) 25.1 (4.70) 17.0 (2.30) 23.1 (1.67)

2006
29.2 (0.24) 32.8   (0.31) 17.5   (0.63) 11.9 (0.40) 51.9 (1.33) 53.1 (1.35) 26.6 (4.67) 13.7 (2.07) 22.6 (1.75)
2007 29.5 (0.25) 33.2   (0.33) 18.1   (0.62) 11.8 (0.37) 54.2 (1.31) 55.8 (1.32) 19.2 (4.14) 12.7 (1.89) 21.5 (1.81)
2008 30.1 (0.25) 33.8   (0.33) 18.7   (0.67) 12.6 (0.39) 54.9 (1.24) 56.1 (1.24) 27.5 (3.64) 14.6 (2.15) 22.7 (1.62)
2009 30.1 (0.28) 33.9   (0.36) 17.9   (0.57) 12.5 (0.41) 54.8 (1.14) 56.5 (1.17) 23.0 (3.35) 16.1 (2.96) 24.4 (1.92)
2010 30.3 (0.23) 34.2   (0.30) 17.9   (0.59) 12.9 (0.37) 54.6 (1.26) 56.2 (1.30) 18.0 (3.74) 13.5 (2.61) 24.8 (1.86)

2011
30.8 (0.23) 35.0   (0.29) 18.4   (0.64) 13.1 (0.44) 52.4 (1.15) 54.0 (1.21) 19.1 (3.55) 14.1 (1.98) 25.7 (1.91)
2012 31.4 (0.27) 35.5   (0.33) 19.5   (0.62) 13.3 (0.45) 53.1 (1.26) 54.4 (1.29) 24.1 (3.34) 16.1 (2.27) 25.2 (1.85)
2013 32.0 (0.25) 36.0   (0.31) 20.2   (0.64) 13.9 (0.43) 55.1 (1.17) 56.9 (1.20) 23.1 (3.32) 14.0 (2.13) 29.0 (1.78)
2014 31.9 (0.32) 35.9   (0.41) 21.0   (0.88) 14.2 (0.51) 53.7 (1.33) 55.5 (1.34) 16.7 (3.42) 14.8 (2.46) 29.2 (2.56)
2015 32.3 (0.27) 36.3   (0.35) 21.1   (0.63) 14.3 (0.38) 55.6 (1.11) 57.3 (1.16) 24.4 (2.87) 18.1 (2.14) 27.2 (2.14)

2016
33.2 (0.29) 37.2   (0.37) 21.8   (0.62) 15.4 (0.48) 57.7 (1.05) 59.4 (1.10) 22.2 (3.65) 16.5 (1.87) 25.6 (2.06)
2017 33.7 (0.28) 37.8   (0.37) 22.6   (0.61) 15.8 (0.41) 55.7 (1.10) 57.2 (1.14) 26.2 (3.61) 17.7 (1.93) 30.3 (1.87)
2018 34.6 (0.30) 38.9   (0.40) 23.7   (0.73) 16.6 (0.45) 58.5 (1.01) 60.1 (1.02) 23.6 (3.59) 15.4 (1.78) 30.0 (2.05)
2019 35.4 (0.30) 39.9   (0.43) 24.4   (0.72) 16.9 (0.43) 59.4 (1.00) 60.9 (1.01) 24.8 (4.02) 12.9 (1.59) 31.1 (2.11)
2020 36.7 (0.29) 41.0   (0.40) 24.4   (0.75) 19.4 (0.63) 62.3 (1.00) 63.6 (1.00) 31.5 (4.19) 18.2 (2.05) 28.8 (2.15)
2021 36.6 (0.29) 40.8   (0.40) 24.9   (0.75) 18.9 (0.57) 63.1 (1.06) 64.7 (1.10) 28.0 (4.31) 17.5 (2.22) 33.7 (2.16)

Females
                                       
High school completion
    or higher1
                                       
1940 26.3 (---) 28.1 3 (---) 8.4 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1950 36.0 (---) 38.2 3 (---) 14.7 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1960 42.5 (---) 44.7 3 (---) 23.1 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1970 55.4 (---) 57.7 3 (---) 36.6 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1980 68.1 (0.28) 71.5   (0.30) 51.5   (1.08) 44.2 (1.63) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1990 77.5 (0.23) 81.3   (0.24) 66.5   (0.90) 51.3 (1.23) 82.5 (1.57) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1995 81.6 (0.21) 85.8   (0.22) 74.1   (0.81) 53.8 (1.09) 81.9 (1.54) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1996
81.6 (0.22) 85.9   (0.22) 74.6   (0.71) 53.3 (0.97) 81.0 (1.21) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1997 82.2 (0.20) 86.3   (0.20) 76.5   (0.68) 54.6 (0.76) 82.9 (1.11) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1998 82.9 (0.19) 87.1   (0.20) 77.1   (0.67) 55.3 (0.75) 82.3 (1.09) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1999 83.3 (0.19) 87.6   (0.19) 77.5   (0.66) 56.3 (0.73) 82.8 (1.06) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2000 84.0 (0.19) 88.4   (0.19) 78.7   (0.64) 57.5 (0.71) 83.4 (1.03) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

2001
84.2 (0.18) 88.8   (0.19) 78.6   (0.64) 57.4 (0.70) 85.2 (0.91) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2002 84.4 (0.13) 88.9   (0.13) 79.4   (0.45) 57.9 (0.48) 85.7 (0.64) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2003 85.0 (0.13) 89.7   (0.13) 80.7   (0.44) 57.8 (0.46) 86.1 (0.62) 86.1 (0.64) 86.9 (2.63) 77.9 (2.30) 85.1 (1.38)
2004 85.4 (0.12) 90.1   (0.12) 81.2   (0.43) 59.5 (0.46) 85.3 (0.63) 85.1 (0.64) 88.1 (2.76) 78.6 (2.24) 86.5 (1.29)
2005 85.5 (0.15) 90.3   (0.18) 81.5   (0.53) 59.1 (0.63) 85.4 (0.76) 85.2 (0.78) 91.7 (2.46) 75.6 (2.29) 88.1 (1.12)

2006
85.9 (0.16) 90.8   (0.17) 81.5   (0.51) 60.1 (0.59) 85.6 (0.82) 85.6 (0.81) 85.7 (3.08) 78.9 (2.18) 88.2 (1.11)
2007 86.4 (0.15) 91.0   (0.16) 83.0   (0.49) 62.5 (0.56) 86.1 (0.93) 86.0 (0.97) 89.1 (2.40) 81.9 (1.91) 89.2 (1.22)
2008 87.2 (0.17) 91.8   (0.18) 84.2   (0.49) 63.7 (0.61) 87.2 (0.75) 87.0 (0.78) 93.0 (1.57) 79.2 (2.95) 89.5 (1.53)
2009 87.1 (0.16) 91.9   (0.17) 84.2   (0.48) 63.3 (0.59) 86.4 (0.73) 86.3 (0.75) 89.7 (2.33) 82.7 (1.96) 87.6 (1.16)
2010 87.6 (0.15) 92.3   (0.17) 85.0   (0.46) 64.4 (0.59) 87.2 (0.72) 87.1 (0.75) 90.9 (2.41) 82.5 (1.95) 89.7 (1.13)

2011
88.0 (0.15) 92.8   (0.16) 85.3   (0.50) 65.1 (0.57) 87.1 (0.64) 87.0 (0.66) 89.5 (2.25) 83.8 (2.00) 90.7 (1.22)
2012 88.0 (0.17) 92.7   (0.18) 86.1   (0.46) 66.0 (0.65) 87.9 (0.64) 87.8 (0.66) 90.1 (2.11) 81.8 (1.84) 91.6 (1.13)
2013 88.6 (0.16) 93.2   (0.16) 86.6   (0.46) 67.9 (0.55) 89.0 (0.61) 88.9 (0.63) 89.6 (2.01) 83.1 (2.16) 92.0 (0.95)
2014 88.9 (0.17) 93.7   (0.20) 87.0   (0.55) 67.9 (0.61) 87.4 (0.76) 87.4 (0.77) 87.8 (2.98) 81.6 (2.78) 92.8 (1.28)
2015 88.8 (0.14) 93.5   (0.15) 88.2   (0.43) 67.8 (0.53) 87.1 (0.60) 87.2 (0.62) 85.3 (2.46) 85.6 (2.10) 90.9 (1.14)

2016
89.6 (0.14) 94.3   (0.15) 88.3   (0.39) 69.7 (0.53) 89.3 (0.55) 89.2 (0.56) 91.8 (2.26) 85.2 (1.69) 92.8 (1.07)
2017 90.0 (0.14) 94.5   (0.14) 88.6   (0.43) 71.6 (0.52) 89.4 (0.54) 89.4 (0.56) 89.5 (2.20) 87.2 (1.52) 93.6 (0.92)
2018 90.2 (0.13) 94.7   (0.15) 88.7   (0.41) 72.5 (0.48) 88.6 (0.51) 88.6 (0.52) 89.1 (2.77) 87.4 (1.51) 93.7 (0.86)
2019 90.5 (0.13) 95.0   (0.14) 89.3   (0.43) 72.8 (0.49) 90.0 (0.52) 89.8 (0.54) 94.2 (1.63) 91.3 (1.30) 93.9 (1.02)
2020 91.3 (0.14) 95.4   (0.15) 90.7   (0.42) 74.8 (0.49) 90.9 (0.53) 90.8 (0.54) 93.5 (1.93) 90.7 (1.35) 93.8 (1.21)
2021 91.6 (0.13) 95.5   (0.15) 90.9   (0.38) 75.9 (0.45) 92.0 (0.52) 92.1 (0.53) 90.1 (2.79) 90.0 (1.46) 95.5 (0.81)

Bachelor's or higher
    degree4
                                       
1940 3.8 (---) 4.0 3 (---) 1.2 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1950 5.2 (---) 5.4 3 (---) 2.4 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1960 5.8 (---) 6.0 3 (---) 3.6 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1970 8.2 (---) 8.6 3 (---) 5.6 3 (---) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1980 13.6 (0.20) 14.4   (0.23) 8.1   (0.59) 6.2 (0.79) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1990 18.4 (0.21) 19.8   (0.25) 10.8   (0.59) 8.7 (0.69) 37.8 (2.01) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1995 20.2 (0.22) 22.1   (0.26) 13.0   (0.62) 8.4 (0.61) 35.0 (1.90) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

1996
21.4 (0.23) 23.2   (0.27) 14.8   (0.58) 8.3 (0.53) 38.0 (1.50) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1997 21.7 (0.21) 23.7   (0.25) 14.0   (0.56) 10.1 (0.46) 37.4 (1.43) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1998 22.4 (0.21) 24.1   (0.25) 15.4   (0.58) 10.9 (0.47) 38.9 (1.39) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
1999 23.1 (0.22) 25.0   (0.26) 16.5   (0.59) 11.0 (0.46) 39.0 (1.37) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2000 23.6 (0.22) 25.5   (0.26) 16.8   (0.59) 10.6 (0.44) 41.0 (1.37) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

2001
24.3 (0.22) 26.5   (0.26) 16.3   (0.58) 11.3 (0.45) 43.4 (1.26) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2002 25.1 (0.15) 27.3   (0.19) 17.7   (0.42) 11.2 (0.31) 44.2 (0.91) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
2003 25.7 (0.15) 27.9   (0.19) 18.0   (0.43) 11.6 (0.30) 45.3 (0.89) 46.3 (0.92) 28.0 (3.50) 12.2 (1.81) 22.2 (1.61)
2004 26.1 (0.15) 28.4   (0.19) 18.5   (0.43) 12.3 (0.31) 45.2 (0.88) 45.7 (0.90) 32.9 (4.01) 13.1 (1.84) 22.7 (1.59)
2005 26.5 (0.23) 28.9   (0.30) 18.9   (0.51) 12.1 (0.42) 46.0 (1.08) 46.8 (1.10) 24.1 (4.08) 12.2 (2.00) 23.3 (1.43)

2006
26.9 (0.22) 29.3   (0.28) 19.5   (0.55) 12.9 (0.39) 46.6 (1.11) 47.3 (1.15) 27.2 (4.03) 12.3 (1.81) 23.6 (1.70)
2007 28.0 (0.23) 30.6   (0.29) 19.2   (0.59) 13.7 (0.44) 48.6 (1.07) 49.5 (1.10) 27.9 (4.16) 13.4 (1.53) 25.8 (1.58)
2008 28.8 (0.24) 31.5   (0.29) 20.5   (0.58) 14.1 (0.37) 49.3 (0.99) 50.1 (1.02) 29.3 (3.82) 15.1 (1.75) 26.1 (1.92)
2009 29.1 (0.21) 31.9   (0.26) 20.6   (0.56) 14.0 (0.41) 48.8 (0.98) 49.7 (1.02) 32.9 (3.74) 18.8 (1.91) 26.6 (1.67)
2010 29.6 (0.21) 32.4   (0.26) 21.6   (0.63) 14.9 (0.42) 49.1 (1.12) 49.9 (1.19) 32.2 (4.11) 18.2 (1.83) 25.7 (1.59)

2011
30.1 (0.22) 33.1   (0.28) 21.7   (0.60) 15.2 (0.43) 47.0 (1.04) 48.0 (1.07) 24.7 (3.52) 17.9 (2.17) 28.9 (1.70)
2012 30.6 (0.23) 33.5   (0.30) 22.9   (0.61) 15.8 (0.45) 48.6 (0.93) 49.7 (0.94) 24.9 (3.70) 17.2 (2.13) 28.8 (1.88)
2013 31.4 (0.24) 34.4   (0.31) 23.4   (0.61) 16.2 (0.42) 50.2 (0.94) 51.3 (0.96) 28.0 (3.44) 16.6 (2.05) 32.0 (1.89)
2014 32.0 (0.32) 35.3   (0.42) 24.2   (0.75) 16.1 (0.50) 49.3 (1.12) 50.4 (1.15) 27.1 (4.38) 13.1 (1.92) 33.1 (2.08)
2015 32.7 (0.25) 36.1   (0.32) 24.3   (0.60) 16.6 (0.42) 50.4 (0.82) 51.8 (0.85) 21.3 (3.13) 21.3 (1.71) 33.4 (1.96)

2016
33.7 (0.27) 37.3   (0.32) 24.8   (0.54) 17.4 (0.47) 52.9 (0.96) 53.8 (0.97) 32.4 (3.94) 17.0 (1.78) 35.0 (2.17)
2017 34.6 (0.28) 38.3   (0.36) 25.7   (0.59) 18.6 (0.48) 52.3 (0.94) 53.8 (0.97) 24.2 (3.54) 22.9 (2.73) 34.6 (1.87)
2018 35.3 (0.30) 38.8   (0.37) 27.1   (0.63) 20.1 (0.47) 53.1 (0.90) 54.4 (0.88) 24.6 (3.34) 21.7 (2.26) 34.4 (1.84)
2019 36.6 (0.25) 40.3   (0.34) 27.9   (0.61) 20.8 (0.46) 55.4 (0.83) 56.6 (0.82) 30.8 (3.50) 20.2 (1.95) 36.8 (1.98)
2020 38.3 (0.27) 41.7   (0.35) 30.8   (0.63) 22.3 (0.54) 58.6 (0.97) 60.0 (0.97) 27.9 (4.75) 21.1 (1.93) 40.6 (2.13)
2021 39.1 (0.26) 42.9   (0.38) 31.1   (0.59) 22.3 (0.43) 58.0 (0.90) 59.5 (0.89) 24.9 (3.98) 22.8 (2.18) 43.5 (2.16)
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
1 Data for years prior to 1992 are for persons with 4 or more years of high school. Data for later years are for high school completers (i.e., those persons who graduated from high school with a diploma as well as those who completed high school through equivalency programs, such as a GED program).
2 Estimates based on Census Bureau reverse projection of 1940 census data on education by age.
3 Includes persons of Hispanic ethnicity for years prior to 1980.
4 Data for years prior to 1992 are for persons with 4 or more years of college, even if they did not complete a degree.
NOTE: For 1960 and prior years, data were collected in April. For later years, data were collected in March. Data are based on sample surveys of the noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons living in institutions (e.g., prisons or nursing facilities); data include military personnel who live in households with civilians but exclude those who live in military barracks. Prior to 2005, standard errors were computed using generalized variance function methodology rather than the more precise replicate weight methodology used in later years. Caution should be used when comparing 2020 and 2021 estimates to those of prior years due to the impact that the coronavirus pandemic had on interviewing and response rates. For additional information about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Current Population Survey data collection, please see https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar21.pdf. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity except where otherwise noted.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, U.S. Census of Population: 1960, Vol. I, Part 1; J.K. Folger and C.B. Nam, Education of the American Population (1960 Census Monograph); Current Population Reports, Series P-20, various years; and Current Population Survey (CPS), Annual Social and Economic Supplement, selected years, 1970 through 2021. (This table was prepared November 2021.)

2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest