Information on educational attainment is collected annually in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS).
The ACS reached its full sample size in 2005 and is now the largest household survey of the United States with an annual sample of approximately 3 million addresses. The ACS provides estimates of the nation, as well as states, metropolitan areas, and more specific geographic areas. Tables on educational attainment in the ACS are available through the American FactFinder.
Educational Attainment data in the CPS are reported annually from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC, formerly the March Supplement). These data provide national estimates of educational attainment from 1947 to present, with limited detail for states and some metropolitan areas. For additional information on differences between these two data sets, see the links below.
Apart from annual estimates, educational attainment information is available from the Decennial Census from 1940 to 2000. The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) also collects information on educational attainment, as well as related topics such as field of degree. The Census Bureau also collects data on school enrollment from several surveys. Links to these related topics are provided below.
Current Population Survey
Decennial Census
Working Papers
March Current Population Survey (CPS) data on Educational Attainment are available from 1968 to present as CD-ROMs or as Magnetic Tape Reels or Cartridges. Please see the Census Product Catalog for more information on this and previous publications.
[MSWord] or the letters [doc] indicate a document is in the Microsoft® Word Format
(DOC). To view the file, you will need the
Microsoft®
Word Viewer
available for free from Microsoft®.
[PDF] or
denotes a file in Adobe’s Portable Document Format.
To view the file, you will need the
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
available free from Adobe.
The letters PPT indicate a document is in the Microsoft® PowerPoint® Format
(PPT). To view the file, you will need the
Microsoft®
PowerPoint® Viewer
available for free from Microsoft®.