- In 2008, adults with a bachelor’s degree earned, on average, about 81 percent more than high school graduates; associate degree holders earned about 23 percent more. In 2009, the unemployment rate for high school dropouts was more than twice as high as the unemployment rate for college graduates.
- By 2018, 63 percent of all American job openings will require some sort of postsecondary education. While employers will need nearly 22 million new workers with postsecondary degrees, colleges will fall short of that mark by 3 million graduates.
- The U.S. once led the world in postsecondary attainment. Today that’s no longer the case. While U.S. adults ages 55 to 64 are tied for first in the industrialized world in college degree attainment, a younger generation of Americans (ages 25-34) is tied for 10th.
- Access to higher education has greatly expanded in the past 40 years: While only about 52 percent of U.S. high school graduates began their postsecondary education in 1967, more than 67 percent enrolled in 2007. Unfortunately, college completion rates have been stagnant over the same period: In 1967, about half (50.6 percent) of students aged 15 to 29 who started college obtained a bachelor’s degree. In 2007, the figure was 51.3 percent.
- Community colleges have played an important role in the expansion of postsecondary access, especially for low-income young adults. Among low-income youth attending college, 58 percent start at a two-year institution, compared to just 38 percent of their higher income peers.
- Less than half of first-time, full-time students complete their four-year degrees within six years or two-year degrees within three years. Completion rates for minority students are even lower.
- The American college student today is vastly different than the profile touted by popular American culture. Only about 25 percent of first-year undergraduates are enrolled full-time in residential four-year colleges and still largely financially dependent on their parents.
- Most college students today are “non-traditional.” Most attend non-selective institutions, and just 14 percent of students live on campus. One-third of students enrolled in postsecondary education work full-time, and another 44 percent work part-time. And 60 percent of students who earn degrees earn them from different institutions than the ones in which they started.
- More than one-third of full-time college and university students need remedial classes that cover what they should have learned in high school. Students in the bottom quarter by income were more than twice as likely to take remedial courses as those in the top quarter (52 percent compared to 24 percent).
- The average cost of tuition and fees at a public four-year college in 2009-10 was $7,020 – a 235-percent increase since 1980-81. Over the same time span, the average tuition at a public community college rose 150 percent, to $2,544.
Citations for the Facts Above
- U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement (2009).). "INC-03. Educational Attainment--People 25 Years Old and Over, by Total Money Earnings in 2008, Work Experience in 2008, Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Sex." D.C.: Department of Commerce.
- Carnevale, Anthony P.; Smith, Nicole; and Strohl, Jeff (2010). "Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018." DC: The Georgetown University Center of Education and the Workforce.
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2009). "Education at a Glance: 2010." Paris, France: OECD. Table A1.3a.
- National Center for Education Statistics (2009). Digest of Education Statistics: 2009 (Table 201). DC: Department of Education. Mortenson, Tom. 2009. “College Completion Rates 1947-2007,” Postsecondary Education Opportunity. March 2009, Issue 201.
- Rose, Stephen. 2010. "Baseline Information about Low-Income Young Adults," memo to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (Estimates from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort.)
- National Center for Education Statistics. 2010. IPEDS Spring 2008 Compendium Tables (Table 33, from IPEDS Graduation Rates component). DC: U.S. Department of Education. Note that these statistics only include first-time, full-time students who enrolled and went on to earn either a four-year degree within six years or a two-year degree within three years at the same institution where they first enrolled.
- Attewell, P. and Lavin, D. (2008). "The Other 75%: College Education Beyond the Elite." Weinberg Seminar Remarks. April 15, 2008. Data are from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study.
- Ibid.
- Strong American Schools. 2008. "Diploma to Nowhere." DC: Strong American Schools.
- The College Board (2010). Trends in College Pricing 2009. Princeton, NJ. The College Board.