What percentage of Americans are college graduates?

[Corie]

I'm curious...

My DH says that only 20% have college degrees.

I say it's alot higher.


I'm not sure where to find a reliable answer.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I think it has to be higher than 20% too but don't know any stats.

Beth

[elliput]

According to the US Census Bureau in 2005, the number is 28% (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html).

[Georgia]

I think your dh is close. It's shocking really but I think it's less than 1/3 of those old enough to have finished college.

[Corie]

According to the US Census Bureau in 2005, the number is 28% (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html).


I am truly shocked by this number!

Thanks for the info! :)

[zag95]

I think that number sounds right. A lot of folks start college but don't finish due to a variety of reasons.

The number of people with graduate degrees is also really low- interesting because we often think of it being so much higher- that more people are attending college etc. Attending doesn't necessarily constitute obtaining a degree!

[kijip]

If you have graduated from college, that is what you know and the people around you at work and such are most likely in a similar education bracket as you, so that is why it seems everyone has graduated. I knew it was roughly a 1/4 of the population. 28% is a record high, it used to be way lower.

A lot of people don't finish, but there are also a lot of people that don't start at all or maybe never should have started. There are more good jobs that don't require a college degree than people think. I was listening to a story the other day that the trades have been hurt by a lack of qualified workers under the age of 40, especially in urban centers, because parents discouraged kids from thinking about anything BUT college. It is not for everyone and there are a lot of college dropouts I can think of that would be happier and more financially stable as experienced plumbers or electricians than they are working at movie theaters or fast food restaurants.

[kransden]

According to the US Census Bureau in 2005, the number is 28% (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html).

From the link: According to new tables released on the Internet titled Educational Attainment in the United States: 2004, 85 percent of those age 25 or older reported they had completed at least high school and 28 percent had attained at least a bachelor’s degree — both record highs.

So this precludes Associate Degrees and anyone in a trade i.e plumbers,etc. I think 28% isn't bad.

[maestramommy]

If you have graduated from college, that is what you know and the people around you at work and such are most likely in a similar education bracket as you, so that is why it seems everyone has graduated. I knew it was roughly a 1/4 of the population. 28% is a record high, it used to be way lower.

A lot of people don't finish, but there are also a lot of people that don't start at all or maybe never should have started. There are more good jobs that don't require a college degree than people think. I was listening to a story the other day that the trades have been hurt by a lack of qualified workers under the age of 40, especially in urban centers, because parents discouraged kids from thinking about anything BUT college. It is not for everyone and there are a lot of college dropouts I can think of that would be happier and more financially stable as experienced plumbers or electricians than they are working at movie theaters or fast food restaurants.

I would've never understood this before we moved to NH. Since then we've met so many tradespeople, probably because we've been so preoccupied with fixing our house lol! My feeling is that they make a lot of money, based on their hourly rate and availability. And many of them are independent contractors, so they work for themselves and don't have employees to pay. Course, they do have to work very hard (physically). The man who redid our bathrooms is the dh of a mom in my group (that's how I found him). He's a builder in two states, but he also does landscaping, snowplowing, housepainting, etc.

[KrisM]

Also, how many of our grandparents or great-grandparents have a degree? There are a lot of senoir citizens who don't because of just a different time back then. My grandma is 84 and was a nurse, but my grandpa does not have a degree. My other grandparents didn't have degrees either. My mom got married young and then stayed home with me and my brother and she doesn't have a degree.

[Corie]

If you have graduated from college, that is what you know and the people around you at work and such are most likely in a similar education bracket as you, so that is why it seems everyone has graduated.



This is EXACTLY what my DH said to me. :)

[vonfirmath]

I don't have a degree. one day I'd like to go back and finish it, but I don't need it for anything I do, honestly.

[kijip]

My brother's partner is a good example of a successful person without a degree. He struggled with reading in high school but was always good with math and fixing things and figuring things out and when he graduated, he got a job installing cable lines. Then he moved to installing computer network cables. Then to troubleshooting networking and servers. Add in some employer paid for certifications and he ended up at Microsoft for a few years in networking and now for cable company. He's weathered the occasional tech layoff (last one was 5 years ago) but was recently approached to apply to a different company. He makes decent money, about as much as I did with my degree (though he does have more years experience). I am adding a higher degree, which will put me on a higher earning potential, but not by a lot. He is intelligent and skilled, he would have done horribly in college.

[hellokitty]

I agree with the others. It really is about who you know and hang out with. When I was working, just about everyone seemed to be college educated. Then we moved and I became a SAHM and it seemed like college educated ppl were very rare. Of course, it doesn't help that in the state we live in, we live in the county with the LOWEST # of college grads... so it's not JUST my imagination. I know this is going to come off sounding snobby, BUT I tend to hit it off better with other SAHMs who are college educated than ones who aren't. Which is one reason I had a really hard time mtg other moms that I could relate to until I joined our local MOMS Club and LLL. I mean, it took me over three yrs to make any mommy friends, b/c we don't fit in with the ppl in our neighborhood...