Indicator 27 Snapshot: Attainment of a Bachelor's or Higher Degree for Racial/Ethnic Subgroups
(Last Updated: February 2019)

In 2016, the percentage of Hispanic adults age 25 and older with a bachelor’s or higher degree ranged from 9 percent for Salvadoran and Guatemalan adults to 55 percent for Venezuelan adults. Among Asian subgroups, the percentage ranged from 10 percent for Bhutanese adults to 74 percent for Asian Indian adults.

Attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree is associated with positive economic outcomes, such as higher median earnings and higher employment rates.¹ This indicator examines the percentage of adults age 25 and older who have attained a bachelor’s or higher degree for specific Hispanic and Asian subgroups (including, for example, the Mexican, Puerto Rican, Chinese, and Asian Indian subgroups).

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Figure 27S.1. Percentage of adults age 25 and older with a bachelor’s or higher degree, by selected Hispanic subgroups: 2016

¹ Includes other Central American subgroups not shown separately.
NOTE: Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded estimates.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2016. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 104.40.

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In 2016, about 15 percent of Hispanic adults age 25 and older had earned a bachelor’s or higher degree. The percentage of adults who had earned a bachelor’s or higher degree was lower for some Hispanic subgroups than the average for Hispanic adults overall: Mexican (11 percent), Honduran (10 percent), Guatemalan (9 percent), and Salvadoran (9 percent). The percentages for all other subgroups were higher than the average for Hispanic adults overall and ranged from 18 percent for Puerto Rican and Dominican adults to 55 percent for Venezuelan adults.

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Figure 27S.2. Percentage of adults age 25 and older with a bachelor’s or higher degree, by selected Asian subgroups: 2016

¹ Includes Taiwanese.
² In addition to the subgroups shown, also includes Sri Lankan.
³ Consists of Indonesian and Malaysian.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded estimates.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2016. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 104.40.

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Differences by Asian subgroup were also found in the percentage of adults age 25 and older who had earned at least a bachelor’s degree. In 2016, the percentages of Asian Indian (74 percent), Korean (56 percent), and Chinese (55 percent) adults who had earned at least a bachelor’s degree were higher than the average of 54 percent for all Asian adults. The percentage of Pakistani adults who had earned a bachelor’s or higher degree was not measurably different from the average for all Asian adults. The percentages for all other subgroups were lower than the average for all Asian adults and ranged from 10 percent for Bhutanese adults to 52 percent for Japanese adults.

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Endnotes

¹ See Earnings and Employment.

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