Youth Indicators, 2005: Trends in the Well-Being of American Youth

Indicator 20: School Completion

Table 20. Percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds who have completed high school and college, by race/ethnicity: Various years, 1950 to 2004
			Highest level of education completed
					Bachelor's or higher degree
Year	Less than high school completion	Total high school completion¹	High school completion only	High school completion and some college	Total	Bachelor's only	Higher than bachelor's
All races²
1950	47.2	52.8	—	—	—	—	—
1960	39.3	60.7	37.5	12.2	11.0	—	—
1970	24.6	75.4	44.1	14.9	16.4	—	—
1975	16.9	83.1	41.5	19.7	21.9	—	—
1980	14.6	85.4	40.7	22.2	22.5	—	—
1985	13.9	86.1	42.4	21.6	22.1	—	—
1990	14.3	85.7	41.2	21.3	24.6	—	—
1995	13.2	86.8	32.8	29.4	24.7	20.2	4.5
1998	11.9	88.1	30.3	30.5	27.3	22.1	5.2
2000	11.9	88.1	29.8	29.3	29.0	23.6	5.4
2001	12.3	87.7	29.3	29.8	28.6	23.2	5.4
2002	13.6	86.4	28.4	28.7	29.3	23.4	5.9
2003	13.5	86.5	29.1	29.0	28.4	22.8	5.7
2004	13.4	86.6	29.2	28.6	28.7	22.9	5.8
White, non-Hispanic
1975	13.4	86.6	42.3	20.5	23.8	—	—
1980	10.8	89.2	41.2	23.0	25.0	—	—
1985	10.5	89.5	43.1	22.0	24.4	—	—
1990	9.9	90.1	41.9	21.9	26.3	—	—
1995	7.5	92.5	32.7	31.0	28.8	23.5	5.3
1998	6.4	93.6	29.4	31.8	32.4	26.4	6.0
2000	6.0	94.0	29.9	30.1	34.0	28.2	5.8
2001	6.7	93.3	28.5	31.8	33.0	26.9	6.1
2002	7.0	93.0	27.2	29.9	35.9	28.6	7.3
2003	6.3	93.7	28.1	31.3	34.2	27.6	6.6
2004	6.7	93.3	28.6	30.2	34.5	28.0	6.5
Black, non-Hispanic
1975	28.9	71.1	43.6	17.1	10.4	—	—
1980	23.3	76.7	44.3	20.9	11.5	—	—
1985	19.5	80.5	46.2	22.8	11.5	—	—
1990	18.3	81.7	45.7	22.7	13.3	—	—
1995	13.3	86.7	41.7	29.7	15.4	13.6	1.8
1998	11.8	88.2	38.3	34.2	15.8	13.0	2.8
2000	13.2	86.8	34.1	34.9	17.9	14.2	3.7
2001	13.0	87.0	36.5	32.7	17.8	15.5	2.3
2002	12.5	87.5	34.2	35.3	18.0	15.6	2.4
2003	11.5	88.5	37.3	33.7	17.5	15.0	2.6
2004	11.3	88.7	36.8	34.8	17.1	14.1	3.0
Hispanic
1975	46.9	53.1	31.2	13.0	8.8	—	—
1980	42.0	58.0	34.8	15.5	7.7	—	—
1985	39.1	60.9	34.0	15.9	11.0	—	—
1990	41.8	58.2	34.8	15.2	8.2	—	—
1995	42.9	57.1	28.4	19.9	8.9	7.3	1.6
1998	37.2	62.8	30.3	22.1	10.3	8.5	1.8
2000	37.2	62.8	30.0	23.1	9.7	7.6	2.1
2001	36.8	63.2	30.9	21.1	11.1	9.2	1.9
2002	37.6	62.4	31.4	22.0	8.9	7.5	1.4
2003	38.3	61.7	30.6	21.0	10.0	8.6	1.4
2004	37.6	62.4	30.1	21.4	10.9	9.2	1.6
— Not available.
¹Includes individuals who have received GED credentials.
²Includes other race/ethnicity categories not separately shown.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, 2004, based on U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys (CPS), March, various years.

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