U.S. education

All four cards describe adults age 25 and older in the same 2020–2024 Census survey period. These thresholds overlap: a graduate degree also counts toward bachelor’s, associate’s and high-school-or-higher attainment. The 2020–2024 five-year release was published January 29, 2026 and remains the latest five-year release as of 2026-09-14. These are population estimates, not current student graduation rates.

Educational attainment over time

Colors show the latest recorded status. A bill passed by only one chamber remains pending; “issued” does not necessarily mean in effect.

Census markers sit at the end of each five-year survey period; horizontal bars show the covered period, not a constant annual value. Vertical bars show approximate 90% margins of error. Only non-overlapping periods are shown. Recent events can appear after the latest observation; there is no monthly attainment estimate here. Dates mark survey endpoints and recorded events, not publication or estimated effect dates.

Are students learning?

Follow reading and mathematics performance alongside credentials. These assessments measure student knowledge and skills; adult attainment measures completed education.

Main NAEP assessments, 2005–2024. The 2025 long-term-trend assessment is a different series and is not spliced into this history. Scores are rounded; official changes use unrounded values. Apparent differences are not necessarily statistically significant. Digital assessment began in 2017. NAEP Proficient is a specific assessment standard, not a synonym for grade-level proficiency.

State comparison

Select a state to compare its public-school score with the matching national public-school benchmark.

Student groups i

Data checked 2026-09-14. State comparisons deliberately use a different national benchmark from the headline, because state results cover public schools. Suppressed or unreliable source estimates are shown as unavailable. NAEP · Scores and methods ↗ · NAEP · State results ↗

Are students finishing school?

Completion follows a group of entering students over a defined period. It answers a different question from the share of adults who already hold a credential.

Public high-school graduation i

86.6% · 2021-22 · Four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR)

School years are labeled by their ending year on the timeline. The current NCES table includes 2022–23 graduates, but its ACGR series ends in 2021–22; the newer averaged freshman graduation rate is a different measure and is not substituted. Changes in state diploma requirements during the pandemic can limit comparisons across years.

Data checked 2026-09-14 against the current NCES Digest table index. IPEDS 2023–24 results in these tables are provisional. NCES · High-school graduation ↗ · NCES · Bachelor’s completion ↗ · NCES · Broader outcomes ↗

What does education cost?

Tuition is only part of the cost. Housing, food, books and other expenses also matter, while grants reduce the amount students need to finance.

Average published cost i

$27,146 · 2022–23 · Inflation-adjusted · 2022–23 dollars

The total-cost rows are alternative living arrangements, not components to add together; tuition is already included in each total. Institutions without campus housing are excluded from on-campus housing estimates. The source publishes selected years, so the history has gaps.

Inflation-adjusted values are the NCES-published amounts in 2022–23 dollars using academic-year CPI. Income bands are nominal categories as reported; they are not adjusted across years. These figures exclude transfer entrants and students beginning part time. They describe annual costs, not the cost of completing an entire degree.

Current Digest table editions checked 2026-09-14; newer years are not estimated. NCES · Attendance costs ↗ · NCES · Net prices and aid ↗

Where does school funding go?

See how much public school systems spend per pupil, who provides the funding, and how spending is allocated.

FactVote converts nominal spending into 2024 dollars using annual U.S. CPI-U: spending × 2024 CPI ÷ the spending year’s CPI. CPI measures consumer prices, not a school-specific cost index. Calendar-year CPI is an approximation for fiscal-year spending; this does not adjust state comparisons for geographic price differences.

Where revenue comes from

$994.92B total revenue · United States

How current spending is used

$842.34B current spending · United States

Each bar uses a 0–100% scale within its own total. Revenue, current spending and total expenditures are different totals; do not add them. Funding shares describe budget composition, not contributions to student learning. Higher spending alone does not establish better outcomes.

Coverage includes public independent and dependent school systems and government-held charter schools; nongovernment-held charter schools are excluded. Per-pupil figures use Census’s adjusted enrollment denominator and exclude adult education, community services and other non-elementary-secondary programs, which remain in some total-spending tables. State reporting notes can affect comparisons.

FY 2024 released May 7, 2026; checked 2026-09-14. Census · Finance tables and state notes ↗ · BLS · Annual CPI ↗

Are students attending school?

Chronic absenteeism measures how many students miss a substantial share of school, including both excused and unexcused absences.

Both bars use the same 0–100% scale. The decline means a smaller share crossed the absence threshold; it does not mean students missed 3% fewer days. These are historical readings, not an estimate for the current school year.

Source overview reviewed August 21, 2025; figures checked 2026-09-14. Values are reproduced at the source’s approximate precision. U.S. Department of Education · Attendance data and definitions ↗

Behind educational attainment

How are adults distributed across credentials? Each person appears once, under their highest completed level.

Blue bars show the selected period on a common 0–100% scale. Changes are calculated before rounding. Shares may not sum to exactly 100% after rounding. Nondegree certificates and apprenticeships are not identified separately.

Education, earnings and unemployment

Compare outcomes across education levels. These are associations; degree choices, occupation, experience, location and other differences also matter.

Compare bars within each column: earnings use $0–$2,500; unemployment uses 0–8%. Across all attainment levels, median weekly earnings were $1,268 and unemployment was 3.4%; these totals are not simple averages of the rows.

2025 figures are eleven-month averages: October was not collected during the federal shutdown. They are not strictly comparable with other annual averages. BLS updated this table September 1, 2026; values checked September 14, 2026. These CPS figures use a different survey and period from the 2020–2024 Census estimates above. Degree categories do not capture every apprenticeship or on-the-job training pathway. BLS · Data and definitions ↗

How does your state compare?

Compare the same age group and survey period. Your saved state is selected when available.

Select a state to compare it with the national reading.

Understanding educational attainment

Sources & methods

Student learning uses main NAEP, long-term-trend NAEP, TIMSS and PISA. Main NAEP grade 4 and 8 reading and mathematics supply the state-comparable core; grade 12 reading and mathematics, 2024 grade 8 science, 2022 grade 8 civics and U.S. history, and 2025 long-term-trend results are national only in this view. TIMSS and PISA provide separate international comparisons. Their scales, frameworks, ages, grades and comparison populations differ and should not be combined into one education score.

Completion and college costs use NCES Digest tables; school funding uses Census school-finance data with BLS CPI adjustments; attendance uses the Department of Education’s published national overview. Each section links its sources and states its coverage and reporting period.

Attainment uses Census ACS five-year table B15003: educational attainment for the population 25 years and over. Shares equal the selected credential counts divided by all adults 25 and older. The six credential groups exhaust that population; the four headline thresholds overlap and must not be added.

History uses 2010–2014, 2015–2019 and 2020–2024 estimates. State comparisons use 2020–2024 throughout. Margins of error are approximate 90% bounds derived with the Census subset-proportion formula and its conservative fallback; differences are descriptive, with no statistical significance claim. National totals include the 50 states and D.C.

Employment context uses the separate BLS Current Population Survey for 2025. Its eleven-month average excludes October, when data were not collected, and is not strictly comparable with other annual averages. It is not the same reporting period or survey as Census attainment.

Annual hourly wage history uses EPI’s analysis of Current Population Survey data for 1973–2025, with five education groups and inflation-adjusted values in 2025 dollars. The separate CRS and BLS source views retain their own populations, wage measures and dollar bases.

Saved data checked 2026-09-14; source revisions may change these estimates. Education actions are a reviewed selection, not comprehensive federal, state or local coverage.