Last week the
US Census Bureau released information regarding educational attainment in the United
States. You can click
here to see the summary and obtain access to the data files.
Here are
some of the highlights noted for March 2011 by race, ethnicity, and gender…
- Over 30 percent of the United States’ population 25 years old and older reported they had a bachelor’s or higher degree. This compares with 1998, when less than a quarter of the 25-and-older population had attained this level of education.
- The number of Hispanics 25 years and over with a bachelor’s or higher degree increased by 80 percent over the decade, from 2.1 million in 2001 to 3.8 million in 2011. The increase among blacks was 47 percent and among non-Hispanic whites, 24 percent.
- There are 61 million people 25 and over with bachelor degrees (30 million were men and 31 million were women). The number of women 25 and over with bachelor’s degrees increased 37 percent in the last ten years (since 2001). The comparable increase for men was 23 percent.
- Twenty-two million, or 11 percent of the population 25 and over, had an advanced degree beyond the bachelor’s level in 2011. This includes 16 million with master’s degrees and 6 million with professional or doctorate (PhD) degrees.
- Roughly 7.2 million men 25 years old and older had a master’ degree, a 33 percent increase from 2001 (5.4 million).
- In 2011, 8.8 million women had a Master’s degree, a 58 percent increase from 6.5 million in 2001.
- Men 25 years old and over with doctorate degrees increased 24 percent in the last decade, from 1.5 million (2001) to 1.9 million (2011). The increase for women was 90 percent, from 0.6 million to 1.2 million in the 2001 to 2011 period.
- Fifty percent of Asians 25 years and over reported having a bachelor’s degree or more in 2011. This level of education was reported by 34 percent of non-Hispanic whites, 20 percent of blacks and 14 percent of Hispanics.
- Among the employed population with bachelor’s degree or more, 41 percent of males and 53 percent of females, were in Professional and related occupations.
- Thirty percent of employed men with a bachelor’s degree or more were in management, business, and financial occupations, compared with 22 percent of women. By contrast, 53 percent of women with bachelor’s degree or more, but only 41 percent of men were in professional and related occupations.
- People whose highest level completed was high school and had any earnings averaged $31,000 in 2010. For those whose highest degree was a bachelor’s degree, the average was $58,000.
- Among men who completed high school but no higher education, the average earnings was $36,000; for women in this category the average earnings was $24,000.
- At the bachelor’s degree level (no advanced degree) the average earnings for males with earnings was $70,000, and for females was $45,000.
- Among females 25 years and over in the labor force and employed, 38 percent had a bachelor’s degree or more. Thirty-six percent of males in the labor force and employed attained a bachelor’s degree or more.
