The Unequally Educated Society

A press release from the Census Bureau today reports that 13.1% of Americans now have either a master’s degree or a doctorate. That’s 21 million Americans with a master’s (MA or MS) and 4.5 million with a Ph.D. Note that the percentages are based on the 249 million Americans age 25 and older.

Highlights:

• There’s still roughly 10% without a high school degree.
• The number of Americans stopping their education at high school is shrinking, perhaps recognition of the lack of job opportunities and the pay differential that a degree provides.
• Among Asians between the ages of 25 and 29 living in the US, 70% have a college or higher degree.
• Among immigrants who have become citizens, 38.4% have a college or higher degree. That’s high than the 30.8% figure among all those living in the US.

That’s a key road block to prosperity for many Americans — inadequate education and the too-high cost of education in the US.

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Sources:

1 https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/02/number-of-people-with-masters-and-phd-degrees-double-since-2000.html?utm_campaign=20190221msacos1ccstors&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

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