Question:
What are the trends in the educational level of the United States population?

Response:
In 2007, some 87 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds had received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate. Although this percentage increased 7 percentage points between 1971 and 1976, the high school completion rate has remained between 85 and 88 percent over the last 30 years.

In 1971, a lower percentage of Blacks than Whites completed high school (59 vs. 82 percent). Between 1971 and 1982, the gap between Blacks and Whites decreased 15 percentage points to 8 percentage points, but since 1982 the gap has been between 4 and 10 percentage points. In 2007, the high school completion rate for Blacks was still below that of Whites (88 vs. 93 percent). The high school completion rate for Hispanics increased between 1971 and 2007 (48 vs. 65 percent). Unlike the gap between Blacks and Whites, the gap between Hispanics and Whites fluctuated but was not measurably different in 2007 than in 1971.

The rate at which 25- to 29-year-olds completed at least some college education increased from 34 to 58 percent between 1971 and 2007. However, increases in the rate were not consistent throughout this period. The rate increased during the 1970s, leveled off during the 1980s, and increased in the 1990s. Since the late 1990s, the rate has leveled off again. For each racial/ethnic group, the percentage completing at least some college was higher in 2007 than 1971. However, the rate of increase was lower for Hispanics than for Whites or Blacks. In 2007, about 66 percent of White 25- to 29-year-olds had completed at least some college, compared with 50 percent of their Black peers and 34 percent of their Hispanic peers.

In 2007, some 30 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds had completed a bachelor's degree or higher. In most years, about half as many 25- to 29-year-olds had completed a bachelor's degree or higher as had completed at least some college. Between 1971 and 1996, the percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds who had completed a bachelor's degree or higher increased from 17 to 27 percent. Although this change represents an increase of 10 percentage points, the rate has remained between 27 and 30 percent since 1996. While the percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds with a bachelor's degree or higher increased for all three racial/ethnic groups, the gaps between Whites and their Black and Hispanic peers widened between 1971 and 2007.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2008). The Condition of Education 2008 (NCES 2008–031), Indicator 25.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 08. Percentage of persons age 25 and over and 25 to 29, by race/ethnicity, years of school completed, and sex: Selected years, 1910 through 2007
  
• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 09. Number of persons age 18 and over, by highest level of education attained, age, sex, and race/ethnicity: 2007
  
• 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 11. Educational attainment of persons 18 years old and over, by state: 2000 and 2005
  
• 2004, The Condition of Education 2004: Trends in undergraduate persistence and completion
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2008, Recent Participation in Formal Learning Among Working-Age Adults with Different Levels of Education
  
• 2006, Economic Outcomes of High School Completers and Noncompleters 8 Years Later
  
• 2006, Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Education Institutions: 2003-04, With a Special Analysis of Community College Students
  
• 2006, The Adult Lives of At-Risk Students: The Roles of Attainment and Engagement in High School
  
• 2005, Educational Attainment of High School Dropouts 8 Years Later
  
• 2004, ED TAB: The High School Sophomore Class of 2002: A Demographic Description. First Results From the Base Year of the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002
  
• 2002, Coming of Age in the 1990s: The Eighth-Grade Class of 1988 12 Years Later