Youth Indicators 1996 / Indicator 28, Chart 1

Indicator 28. School Completion

Years of school completed by 25- to 29-year-olds: 1940 to 1995

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, 1960 Census of Population, vol. 1, part 1; Current Population Reports, Series P-20, Educational Attainment in the United States, various years; and unpublished data.

Young adults have completed more and more years of education over the past decades, but increases in educational attainment since 1975 have been small. The proportion of blacks completing high school has risen significantly. The proportion of 25- to 29-year-old blacks who had completed high school rose from 77 percent in 1980 to 87 percent in 1995. Hispanics complete less schooling than other groups; 9 percent completed 4 or more years of college in 1995 compared with 26 percent of whites.