Educational Attainment Data Encouraging

Today, more Amer­i­cans are earn­ing high­er lev­els of edu­ca­tion. In 2012, 59% of the U.S. pop­u­la­tion ages 25 to 34 had a high school diplo­ma or less; 9% had an asso­ci­ate’s degree, and 33% had a bach­e­lor’s degree or high­er (an increase of 2.5 mil­lion young peo­ple since 2000).

In the past decade, 46 states and the Dis­trict of Colum­bia saw an increase in young adults with a bach­e­lor’s degree or high­er, led by Neva­da, which expe­ri­enced a 35% increase. South Dako­ta, Wyoming and Kansas expe­ri­enced a decline in attain­ment. South Car­oli­na saw no change.

See the Eco­nom­ic Well-Being and Edu­ca­tion sec­tions of the KIDS COUNT Data Cen­ter to access data for the nation, states and 50 largest cities:

• Medi­an fam­i­ly (with child) income
• Chil­dren under age 6 with no par­ent in the labor force
• Chil­dren under age 6 with all avail­able par­ents in the labor force
• Edu­ca­tion­al attain­ment of pop­u­la­tion ages 25 to 34
• Edu­ca­tion­al attain­ment of pop­u­la­tion ages 25 to 64