EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EST, DECEMBER 19, 2000 (TUESDAY) Public Information Office CB00-211 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-1037 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Eric Newburger/Andrea Curry 301-457-2464 Census Bureau Says Nation's Educational Attainment Keeps Rising About 84 percent of all U.S. adults age 25 and over had high school diplomas and 26 percent had bachelor's degrees or higher -- both record highs, a survey conducted this year and released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau shows. The results of the survey, contained in the report, Educational Attainment in the United States: March 2000 (Update), update the 1999 educational attainment report issued last September. The statistics were collected in the March 2000 Current Population Survey, which uses the 1990 census as the base for its sample. The estimates should not be confused with Census 2000 results, which will be released starting at the end of the month. The data on educational trends and attainment levels are shown by characteristics such as age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, occupation, industry, nativity and period of entry, as well as metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residence. The tabulations also look at topics such as the relationship between earnings and educational attainment. Although the statistics provided are primarily at the national level, some data are shown for regions, states and large metropolitan areas. Statistics from surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.-X-
