| Year |
Both sexes |
Male |
Female |
Less than
5 years of
elementary
school |
High school
completion
or higher1 |
4 or
more
years of
college2 |
Less than
5 years of
elementary
school |
High school
completion
or higher1 |
4 or
more
years of
college2 |
Less than
5 years of
elementary
school |
High school
completion
or higher1 |
4 or
more
years of
college2 |
| 19103 |
23.8% |
13.5% |
2.7% |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 19203 |
22.0 |
16.4 |
3.3 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 19303 |
17.5 |
19.1 |
3.9 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| April 1940 |
13.7 |
24.5 |
4.6 |
15.1% |
22.7% |
5.5% |
12.4% |
26.3% |
3.8% |
| April 1950 |
11.1 |
34.3 |
6.2 |
12.2 |
32.6 |
7.3 |
10.0 |
36.0 |
5.2 |
| April 1960 |
8.3 |
41.1 |
7.7 |
9.4 |
39.5 |
9.7 |
7.4 |
42.5 |
5.8 |
| March 1970 |
5.3 |
55.2 |
11.0 |
5.9 |
55.0 |
14.1 |
4.7 |
55.4 |
8.2 |
| March 1980 |
3.4 |
68.6 |
17.0 |
3.6 |
69.2 |
20.9 |
3.2 |
68.1 |
13.6 |
| March 1985 |
2.7 |
73.9 |
19.4 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| March 1990 |
2.5 |
77.6 |
21.3 |
2.7 |
77.7 |
24.4 |
2.2 |
77.5 |
18.4 |
| March 1994 |
1.9 |
80.9 |
22.2 |
2.1 |
81.1 |
25.1 |
1.7 |
80.8 |
19.6 |
| March 1995 |
1.9 |
81.7 |
23.0 |
2.0 |
81.7 |
26.0 |
1.7 |
81.6 |
20.2 |
| March 1996 |
1.8 |
81.7 |
23.6 |
1.9 |
81.9 |
26.0 |
1.7 |
81.6 |
21.4 |
| March 1997 |
1.7 |
82.1 |
23.9 |
1.8 |
82.0 |
26.2 |
1.6 |
82.2 |
21.7 |
| March 1998 |
1.7 |
82.8 |
24.4 |
1.7 |
82.8 |
26.5 |
1.6 |
82.9 |
22.4 |
| March 1999 |
1.6 |
83.4 |
25.2 |
1.6 |
83.5 |
27.5 |
1.6 |
83.4 |
23.1 |
| March 2000 |
1.6 |
84.1 |
25.6 |
1.6 |
84.2 |
27.8 |
1.5 |
84.0 |
23.6 |
| March 2001 |
1.6 |
84.3 |
26.1 |
1.6 |
84.4 |
28.0 |
1.5 |
84.2 |
24.3 |
| March 2002 |
1.6 |
84.1 |
26.7 |
1.7 |
83.8 |
28.5 |
1.5 |
84.4 |
25.1 |
| March 2004 |
1.5 |
85.2 |
27.7 |
1.7 |
84.8 |
29.4 |
1.4 |
85.4 |
26.1 |
| March 2005 |
1.6 |
85.2 |
27.6 |
1.7 |
84.9 |
28.9 |
1.5 |
85.4 |
26.5 |
| March 2006 |
1.5 |
85.5 |
28.0 |
1.6 |
84.9 |
29.2 |
1.5 |
85.9 |
26.9 |
| March 2007 |
1.5 |
85.7 |
28.7 |
1.6 |
85.0 |
29.5 |
1.4 |
86.4 |
28.0 |
NOTE: (—) = not available.
1. Data for years prior to 1993 include
all persons with at least 4 years of high school.
2. Data for 1993 and later years are for
persons with a bachelor's degree or higher.
3. Estimates based on Bureau of the
Census retrojection of 1940 Census data on education by age.
Source: Based on data from the U.S.
Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, U.S Census of
Population, 1960, Vol. 1, part 1; Current Population Reports,
Series P-20 and unpublished data; and 1960 Census Monograph,
“Education of the American Population,” by John K. Folger and Charles B.
Nam. From U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, and U.S. Census
Bureau, Current Population Survey, March 2007.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
