Bachelor’s Degree Attainment in the United States - 2005 to 2019 - American Community Survey Briefs

Oct 15, 2026

Bachelor’s Degree Attainment in the United States: 2005 to 2019 uses American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2005–2009, 2010–2014, and 2015–2019 to study changes in bachelor’s degree attainment. Educational attainment rises across the 15-year period, with the share of adults 25+ holding at least a bachelor’s degree increasing by about five percentage points. National trends are further broken down by race and Hispanic origin, showing growth that differs in pace and pattern across groups, and county-level analysis highlights varied regional trajectories despite national gains.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Findings

National

County-Level Differences in Attainment

What Is the American Community Survey?

Bachelor’s Degree Attainment in the United States: 2005 to 2019 American Community Survey Briefs By Kevin McElrath and Michael Martin Issued February 2021 ACSBR-009 INTRODUCTION The American Community Survey (ACS) is the nation’s most current, reliable, and accessible data source for local statistics. Since 2010, the ACS has published estimates using 5 years of data for all geographic areas down to the census tract and block-group levels. For the first time ever, these 5-year estimates are available for three consecutive nonoverlapping periods (2005–2009, 2010–2014, and 2015–2019), thus providing trend data for small population groups and geographies covering a combined 15-year period.1 This report uses the 2005–2009, 2010–2014, and 2015–2019 ACS 5-year estimates to investigate bachelor’s degree attainment.2, 3 Bachelor’s degrees are important marks of progress for both individuals and society. Compared with noncollege graduates, individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree have higher lifetime earnings, lower odds of unemployment, and better health outcomes.4 In this brief, we present findings for national-and county-level changes in bachelor’s ¹ For more information about comparing 5-year estimates, see“Understanding and Using American Community Survey Data: What All Data Users Need to Know” at <[www.census.gov/programs-surveys](www.census.gov/programs-surveys)[ ](www.census.gov/programs-surveys)[/acs/guidance/handbooks/general.html](/acs/guidance/handbooks/general.html)> . 2 Estimates presented here do not reflect the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential impact. 3 To examine this topic further by Hispanic origin and race, seethe interactive data visualization,“Percentage of Population Aged 25 Years and Over With a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 2015–2019” at <[www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/acs-percentage](www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/acs-percentage)[-bachelors-degree-2015-2019.html](-bachelors-degree-2015-2019.html)> . 4 Philip Oreopoulos and Uros Petronijevic,“Making College Worth It: A Review of Research on the Returns to Higher Education,”Working paper 19053, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2013. degree attainment from 2005–2009 to 2015– 2019.5, 6 FINDINGS National Table 1 presents national trends in educational attainment in the United States using three nonoverlapping ACS 5-year estimates for 2005–2009, 2010–2014, and 2015–2019. Specifically, Table 1 presents the percentage of the population 25 years and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Educational attainment in the United States increased over the 15-year period. The percentage of the population 25 years and older with at least a bachelor’s degree increased by about 5 percentage points (from 27.5 percent to 32.1 percent) from 2005–2009 to 2015–2019. Table 1 also presents the percentage of people with a bachelor’s degree or higher by race and Hispanic origin. In the first 5-year estimate, there were differences in the percentage of people with bachelor’s degrees between race groups. From 2005–2009 to 2015–2019, the percentage of people with a bachelor’s degree increased for all groups. However, growth in bachelor’s degree attainment varied by race, with each race group following a different pattern. Table 1 shows that race groups with relatively low levels of bachelor’s degree attainment 5 Publicly available data products were used to derive estimates for each 5-year data set: 2005–2009 (B15002 and C15002A-I), 2010–2014 (S1501 and C15002A-I), and 2015–2019 (S1501) . 6 Margins of errors were derived using the ACS approximation method, see <[www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library](www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library)[ ](www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library)[/publications/2018/acs/acs_general_handbook_2018_ch08.pdf](/publications/2018/acs/acs_general_handbook_2018_ch08.pdf)> . in 2005–2009 experienced higher levels of growth (percent change) in attainment over the time

FAQs

Which ACS periods are analyzed for bachelor’s degree attainment?

The report uses three nonoverlapping ACS 5-year estimates: 2005–2009, 2010–2014, and 2015–2019.

How much did bachelor’s degree attainment increase nationally from 2005–2009 to 2015–2019?

The percentage of the population age 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree increased by about 5 percentage points, from 27.5% to 32.1%.

Do changes in attainment look the same across race and Hispanic origin groups?

No. The share increases for all groups, but growth varies by race, with different percent-change patterns and different percentage-point increases across groups.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by นรินทร์