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Digest of Education Statistics
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  • Table 8.Years of school completed by persons age 25 and over and 25 to 29, by race/ethnicity and sex: 1910 to 1996

    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    
                  |                               Percent, by years of school completed
                  |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                  |         All races          |White, non-Hispanic\1\      |  Black, non-Hispanic\1\    |           Hispanic
      Age, year,  |____________________________|____________________________|____________________________|____________________________
       and sex    |Less than |4 years|4 or more|Less than |4 years|4 or more|Less than |4 years|4 or more|Less than |4 years|4 or more
                  |5 years of|of high|years of |5 years of|of high|years of |5 years of|of high|years of |5 years of|of high|years of
                  |elementary|school |  col-   |elementary|school |  col-   |elementary|school |  col-   |elementary|school |  col-
                  |  school  |or more| lege\2\ |  school  |or more| lege\2\ |  school  |or more| lege\2\ |  school  |or more| lege\2\
    ______________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________
          1       |    2     |   3   |    4    |    5     |   6   |    7    |    8     |   9   |   10    |    11    |  12   |   13
    ______________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________
                  |                                          Males and females
                  |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
     25 and over  |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    1910 \3\ .....|     23.8 |  13.5 |     2.7 |       ---|    ---|      ---|       ---|    ---|      ---|       ---|    ---|      ---
    1920 \3\ .....|     22.0 |  16.4 |     3.3 |       ---|    ---|      ---|       ---|    ---|      ---|       ---|    ---|      ---
    1930 \3\ .....|     17.5 |  19.1 |     3.9 |       ---|    ---|      ---|       ---|    ---|      ---|       ---|    ---|      ---
    April 1940 ...|     13.7 |  24.5 |     4.6 |     10.9 |  26.1 |     4.9 |     41.8 |   7.7 |     1.3 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    April 1950 ...|     11.1 |  34.3 |     6.2 |      8.9 |  36.4 |     6.6 |     32.6 |  13.7 |     2.2 |       ---|    ---|      ---
                  |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    April 1960 ...|      8.3 |  41.1 |     7.7 |      6.7 |  43.2 |     8.1 |     23.5 |  21.7 |     3.5 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    March 1970 ...|      5.3 |  55.2 |    11.0 |      4.2 |  57.4 |    11.6 |     14.7 |  36.1 |     6.1 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    March 1975 ...|      4.2 |  62.5 |    13.9 |      2.6 |  65.8 |    14.9 |     12.3 |  42.6 |     6.4 |     18.2 |  38.5 |     6.6
    March 1980 ...|      3.4 |  68.6 |    17.0 |      1.9 |  71.9 |    18.4 |      9.1 |  51.4 |     7.9 |     15.8 |  44.5 |     7.6
    March 1982 ...|      3.0 |  71.0 |    17.7 |      1.7 |  74.3 |    19.1 |      7.3 |  54.9 |     8.7 |     14.7 |  46.0 |     7.8
                  |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    March 1985 ...|      2.7 |  73.9 |    19.4 |      1.4 |  77.5 |    20.8 |      6.1 |  59.9 |    11.1 |     13.5 |  47.9 |     8.5
    March 1986 .. |      2.7 |  74.7 |    19.4 |      1.4 |  78.2 |    20.1 |      5.3 |  62.5 |    10.9 |     12.9 |  48.5 |     8.4
    March 1987 .. |      2.4 |  75.6 |    19.9 |      1.3 |  79.0 |    20.5 |      4.9 |  63.6 |    10.8 |     11.9 |  50.9 |     8.6
    March 1988 .. |      2.5 |  76.2 |    20.3 |      1.2 |  79.8 |    21.8 |      4.8 |  63.5 |    11.2 |     12.2 |  51.0 |    10.0
    March 1989 .. |      2.5 |  76.9 |    21.1 |      1.2 |  80.7 |    22.8 |      5.2 |  64.7 |    11.7 |     12.2 |  50.9 |     9.9
                  |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    March 1990 .. |      2.5 |  77.6 |    21.3 |      1.1 |  81.4 |    23.1 |      5.1 |  66.2 |    11.3 |     12.3 |  50.8 |     9.2
    March 1991 .. |      2.4 |  78.4 |    21.4 |      1.1 |  82.4 |    23.3 |      4.7 |  66.8 |    11.5 |     12.5 |  51.3 |     9.7
    March 1992 .. |      2.1 |  79.4 |    21.4 |      0.9 |  83.4 |    23.2 |      3.9 |  67.7 |    11.9 |     11.8 |  52.6 |     9.3
    March 1993 .. |      2.1 |  80.2 |    21.9 |      0.8 |  84.1 |    23.8 |      3.7 |  70.5 |    12.2 |     11.8 |  53.1 |     9.0
    March 1994 .. |      1.9 |  80.9 |    22.2 |      0.8 |  84.9 |    24.3 |      2.7 |  73.0 |    12.9 |     10.8 |  53.3 |     9.1
    March 1995 ...|      1.9 |  81.7 |    23.0 |      0.7 |  85.9 |    23.4 |      2.5 |  73.8 |    13.3 |     10.6 |  53.4 |     9.3
    March 1996 .. |      1.8 |  81.8 |    23.6 |      0.6 |  86.0 |    25.9 |      2.2 |  74.6 |    13.8 |     10.4 |  53.1 |     9.3
                  |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    25 to 29      |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    1920\3\ ......|       ---|    ---|      ---|     12.9 |  22.0 |     4.5 |     44.6 |   6.3 |     1.2 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    April 1940 ...|      5.9 |  38.1 |     5.9 |      3.4 |  41.2 |     6.4 |     27.0 |  12.3 |     1.6 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    April 1950 ...|      4.6 |  52.8 |     7.7 |      3.3 |  56.3 |     8.2 |     16.1 |  23.6 |     2.8 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    April 1960 ...|      2.8 |  60.7 |    11.0 |      2.2 |  63.7 |    11.8 |      7.2 |  38.6 |     5.4 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    March 1970 ...|      1.1 |  75.4 |    16.4 |      0.9 |  77.8 |    17.3 |      2.2 |  58.4 |    10.0 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    March 1975 ...|      1.0 |  83.1 |    21.9 |      0.6 |  86.6 |    23.8 |      0.5 |  71.1 |    10.5 |      8.0 |  53.1 |     8.8
                  |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    March 1980 ...|      0.8 |  85.4 |    22.5 |      0.3 |  89.2 |    25.0 |      0.7 |  76.7 |    11.6 |      6.7 |  58.0 |     7.7
    March 1982 ...|      0.8 |  86.2 |    21.7 |      0.3 |  89.1 |    23.8 |      0.7 |  81.0 |    12.6 |      6.6 |  61.0 |     9.7
    March 1985 ...|      0.7 |  86.1 |    22.2 |      0.2 |  89.5 |    24.4 |      0.4 |  80.5 |    11.6 |      6.0 |  60.9 |    11.1
    March 1986 .. |      0.9 |  86.1 |    22.4 |      0.4 |  89.6 |    25.2 |      0.5 |  83.5 |    11.8 |      5.6 |  59.1 |     9.0
    March 1987 .. |      0.9 |  86.0 |    22.0 |      0.4 |  89.4 |    24.7 |      0.4 |  83.5 |    11.5 |      4.8 |  59.8 |     8.7
                  |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    March 1988 .. |      1.0 |  85.9 |    22.7 |      0.3 |  89.7 |    25.1 |      0.3 |  80.9 |    12.0 |      6.0 |  62.3 |    11.3
    March 1989 .. |      1.0 |  85.5 |    23.4 |      0.3 |  89.3 |    26.3 |      0.5 |  82.3 |    12.7 |      5.4 |  61.0 |    10.1
    March 1990 .. |      1.2 |  85.7 |    23.2 |      0.3 |  90.1 |    26.4 |      1.0 |  81.7 |    13.4 |      7.3 |  58.2 |     8.2
    March 1991 .. |      1.0 |  85.4 |    23.2 |      0.3 |  89.8 |    26.7 |      0.5 |  81.8 |    11.0 |      5.8 |  56.7 |     9.2
    March 1992 .. |      0.9 |  86.3 |    23.6 |      0.3 |  90.7 |    27.2 |      0.8 |  80.9 |    11.1 |      5.2 |  60.9 |     9.5
                  |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    March 1993 .. |      0.7 |  86.7 |    23.7 |      0.3 |  91.2 |    27.2 |      0.2 |  82.7 |    13.3 |      4.0 |  60.9 |     8.3
    March 1994 .. |      0.8 |  86.1 |    23.3 |      0.3 |  91.1 |    27.1 |      0.6 |  84.1 |    13.6 |      3.6 |  60.3 |     8.0
    March 1995 .. |      1.0 |  86.9 |    24.7 |      0.3 |  92.5 |    28.8 |      0.2 |  86.7 |    15.4 |      4.9 |  57.2 |     8.9
    March 1996 .. |      0.8 |  87.3 |    27.1 |      0.2 |  92.6 |    31.6 |      0.4 |  86.0 |    14.6 |      4.3 |  61.1 |    10.0
                  |__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________
                  |                                                  Males
                  |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    25 and over   |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    April 1940 ...|     15.1 |  22.7 |     5.5 |     12.0 |  24.2 |     5.9 |     46.2 |   6.9 |     1.4 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    April 1950 ...|     12.2 |  32.6 |     7.3 |      9.8 |  34.6 |     7.9 |     36.9 |  12.6 |     2.1 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    April 1960 ...|      9.4 |  39.5 |     9.7 |      7.4 |  41.6 |    10.3 |     27.7 |  20.0 |     3.5 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    March 1970 ...|      5.9 |  55.0 |    14.1 |      4.5 |  57.2 |    15.0 |     17.9 |  35.4 |     6.8 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    March 1980 ...|      3.6 |  69.2 |    20.9 |      2.0 |  72.4 |    22.8 |     11.3 |  51.2 |     7.7 |     16.5 |  44.9 |     9.2
    March 1990 .. |      2.7 |  77.7 |    24.4 |      1.3 |  81.6 |    26.7 |      6.4 |  65.8 |    11.9 |     12.9 |  50.3 |     9.8
    March 1994 .. |      2.1 |  81.1 |    25.1 |      0.8 |  85.1 |    27.8 |      3.9 |  71.8 |    12.7 |     11.4 |  53.4 |     9.6
    March 1995 .. |      2.0 |  81.7 |    26.0 |      0.8 |  86.0 |    28.9 |      3.4 |  73.5 |    13.7 |     10.8 |  52.9 |    10.1
    March 1996 .. |      1.9 |  81.9 |    26.0 |      0.7 |  86.1 |    28.8 |      2.9 |  74.6 |    12.5 |     10.2 |  53.0 |    10.3
                  |__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________
                  |                                                 Females
                  |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    25 and over   |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |         |          |       |
    April 1940 ...|     12.4 |  26.3 |     3.8 |      9.8 |  28.1 |     4.0 |     37.5 |   8.4 |     1.2 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    April 1950 ...|     10.0 |  36.0 |     5.2 |      8.1 |  38.2 |     5.4 |     28.6 |  14.7 |     2.4 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    April 1960 ...|      7.4 |  42.5 |     5.8 |      6.0 |  44.7 |     6.0 |     19.7 |  23.1 |     3.6 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    March 1970 ...|      4.7 |  55.4 |     8.2 |      3.9 |  57.7 |     8.6 |     11.9 |  36.6 |     5.6 |       ---|    ---|      ---
    March 1980 ...|      3.2 |  68.1 |    13.6 |      1.8 |  71.5 |    14.4 |      7.4 |  51.5 |     8.1 |     15.3 |  44.2 |     6.2
    March 1990 .. |      2.2 |  77.5 |    18.4 |      1.0 |  81.3 |    19.8 |      4.1 |  66.5 |    10.8 |     11.7 |  51.3 |     8.7
    March 1994 .. |      1.7 |  80.8 |    19.6 |      0.7 |  84.7 |    21.1 |      1.8 |  73.9 |    13.1 |     10.3 |  53.2 |     8.6
    March 1995 .. |      1.7 |  81.6 |    20.2 |      0.6 |  85.8 |    22.2 |      1.8 |  74.1 |    13.0 |     10.4 |  53.8 |     8.4
    March 1996 .. |      1.7 |  81.6 |    21.4 |      0.5 |  85.9 |    23.2 |      1.6 |  74.6 |    14.8 |     10.6 |  53.3 |     8.3
    ______________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______|_________
    

    \1\Includes persons of Hispanic origin for years prior to 1975.

    \2\Data for 1993 to 1996 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.

    ---Data not available.

    NOTE.--Data for 1975 and subsequent years are for the noninstitutional population.

    SOURCE: 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; Series P-19, No. 4; 1960 Census Monograph, "Education of the American Population," by John K. Folger and Charles B. Nam; and unpublished data from the Current Population Survey; and U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, "Educational Attainment of Workers, March 1991," and unpublished data. (This table was prepared October 1997.)


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