POPULATION

 DIVISION

Have We Reached the Top? Educational

Attainment Projections of the U.S.

Population

by

Jennifer Cheeseman Day

and Kurt J. Bauman

 

 Working Paper Series No. 43

May 2000 
ii

WORKING PAPER NO. 43

Have We Reached the Top? Educational

Attainment Projections of the U.S.

Population

by

Jennifer Cheeseman Day

and Kurt J. Bauman

Population Division

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, DC 20233-8800

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the

Population Association of America, Los Angeles, CA, March 23, 2000.

This paper reports the results of research and analysis undertaken by

Census Bureau Staff. It has undergone a more limited review than

official Census Bureau publications. This report is released to inform

interested parties of research and to encourage discussion.
iii

Abstract

There is growing concern that educational levels in the U.S. population may stagnate or

even decrease in coming decades. Factors contributing to this concern include a leveling of

education in entering cohorts, shifts in ethnic composition and high levels of immigration. To

explore these issues, we have developed projections of educational attainment for the U.S.

population age 25 and above to the year 2025. We improve on past projections by providing

model-based projections of educational attainment, which allows control for immigration, sex,

race and ethnicity, age and questionnaire effects. Results indicate that apparent cross-cohort

decline in educational attainment is due to data limitations, and that attainment is climbing in

important segments of the youngest cohorts in our data. Over the next 30 years, a steady increase

in educational attainment levels should be observed in the U.S. population age 25 and over.
Have We Reached the Top? 

Educational Attainment Projections of the U.s. Population

There is growing concern that educational levels in the U.S. population may stagnate or

even decrease in the coming decades. Factors contributing to this concern include a leveling of

education levels of entering cohorts compared to those that are retiring, and growth in population

numbers of ethnic groups and immigrants with traditionally lower education levels. To explore

these issues, we have developed projections of educational attainment for the U.S. population age

25 and above to the year 2025. These projections are based on separate educational attainment

rates by race/ethnic groups, gender, age, and nativity status. Our work has shown that it is

possible to improve on past projections that relied on assumptions about future attainment

patterns and provide model-based projections of educational attainment. Using two models of

attainment, we find that attainment will continue to climb for nearly every segment of the

population, at all levels of education. 

Background

There are at least three major influences on overall educational attainment in the

population that lead to concern about the possibility of lowered education levels in the

workforce. The first of these is the process of cohort succession. Over the last several decades,

the education level of the workforce has benefitted by the entrance of increasingly well-educated

cohorts which replace retiring cohorts. However, there is evidence that this process is slowing

down. 

Those born in the U.S. in the first half of this century grew up during a time when
2

universal education was being established and levels of education were climbing. The proportion

graduating from high school grew from under 40 percent (among those born at the turn of the last

century) to over 80 percent (among those born around 1950). The proportion completing college

went from under 10 percent to over 25 percent (Mare 1995). This growth across cohorts has

been reflected in a distinct age gradient to the educational status of the population. For example,

tabulations from the CPS (U.S. Census Bureau 1998) show that in 1957, only 23 percent of

those 55 or over had completed 4 years of high school, while 44 percent of the prime age

working population (35-54) had finished high school and 58 percent of the population 25-34 had

done so. This age gradient meant that overall education levels increased as older, less-educated

cohorts were replaced by younger ones. 

By 1997, however, the age gradient had flattened considerably. Seventy percent of the

oldest group (55 or older) had completed high school, while the youngest group and the middle

group both had the same rate of high school completion — 87 percent. Trends in high school

graduation are of less concern if those who graduated were going on to and completing college in

increasing numbers. However, college graduation, which currently stands at 27 percent for the

youngest cohort, shows the same kind of flattening of the age gradient. It appears, therefore, that

educational upgrading through aging of younger, better educated cohorts may be coming to an

end. Because of this country’s past success in educational growth, retiring cohorts are

increasingly well-educated, while those who enter productive ages have less room for growth. It

would take a great deal of growth at the postsecondary level for us to sustain the educational

growth that has characterized the United States for the greater part of the 20th century.

A second point of concern focuses on ethnic shifts. The ethnic composition of the U.S.
3

population has shifted dramatically, and those groups with lower education levels, such as

Hispanics and Blacks, are becoming an increasing proportion of the population. Blacks and

Hispanics are projected to grow from 24 percent to over 37 percent of the population in the

period 2000 to 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau 2000). For Hispanics in particular, the growth in

numbers is not matched by a growth in education levels. In fact, earlier educational projections

by Kominski (1988) showed that these ethnic shifts could possibly lead to younger age groups

having lower educational attainment than those who are older. 

The issue of minority education has been directly tied to concerns about the quality of the

American labor force (Miller 1997). It is argued that an increase in education levels of minority

group members is needed to avoid economic polarization, allow for economic growth and help

maintain international competitiveness. This argument requires us to examine both attainment

(years of school, degrees) and achievement (test scores). Comparative research on attainment 

has not been given as much emphasis as work on minority achievement (Jencks 1998) and

comparisons of achievement in other countries with those of the U.S. (e.g. Takahira et al. 1998).

The basis for comparisons of attainment is relatively weak. Current cross-national attainment

projections focus on secondary school completion (OECD 1997), wich is clearly not sufficient to

paint an accurate picture of overall human capital stocks, regardless of assumptions about the

relationship between achievement and education. 

A third concern is immigration. Immigration has grown dramatically over the last 50

years, and many immigrants have low levels of formal education. Projections that do not

separate out the native born from the foreign born can give a misleading information about

trends. For example, until nativity is taken into account, Hispanics appear to be stagnating or
4

falling behind other groups. Among Hispanics, the percentage that completed high school

increased only 15 points over the last 20 years (from 39.6 percent in 1977 to 54.7 percent in

1997). At the same time, the percentage of Blacks completing high school grew by 30 points

(U.S. Census Bureau 1998). However, this apparent lack of progress by Hispanics is deceiving. 

Looking at native born Hispanics only, the growth in high school graduation across cohorts born

from 1900 to 1970 shows a pattern of growth nearly identical to that of Blacks (Mare 1995; Bean

and Tienda 1987).

The fourth and final concern is the timing of school completion. Educational attainment

has ceased to be fixed in early adulthood, especially among members of ethnic and racial

minorities. Delays in completing education may create lower human capital levels in the younger

portion of the workforce and may contribute to other trends such as job instability and delayed

marriage. Evidence from enrollment patterns suggests that age at completion of schooling is

higher for Blacks and Hispanics than it is for Whites (U.S. Census Bureau 1997). The

enrollment rate of Blacks and Hispanics in their 30s is more than half again as high as the rate

among Whites when compared to the enrollment rate of each group in their 20s. The delayed

completion of education may be reflected in lower education levels in younger age groups.

Projections of educational attainment levels by age, gender, race/ethnicity and nativity

provide a starting point for examining all these issues. They provide a way to more closely

visualize the likely effects of current trends on the characteristics of the workforce of the future,

and can be used to project alternative scenarios based on possible deviations from current trends,

such as changes in college enrollment levels, ethnic composition, and immigration. 
1 Due to problems in obtaining stable and credible projections at the advanced

degree level, only the divisions between the first four education levels are considered in this

paper.

2 Data from the previous year’s March CPS are added to data from each year in

order to increase cell size for education estimates of relatively small groups. 

5

Structure of projections

The predominant approach to making educational projections is the cohort component

method, which is the method adopted here. Our focus is on 5 educational attainment levels: less

than high school, high school graduate, some college (including two-year degrees), college

graduate, and advanced degree.1 Group-specific rates of completion for each of these attainment

levels are developed for four ethnic/racial groups (Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic

Black, and non-Hispanic Asians and Pacific Islander), and for cells defined by gender, 5-year age

groups, and nativity. These rates are then be applied to the projected population to produce

estimates of the educational level of the adult population as current and future educational

cohorts move through ages 25 and beyond. 

For the population base, we use the Census Bureau’s most recent population projections

(U.S. Census Bureau 2000). These projections disaggregate the population by age, gender,

race/ethnicity and nativity. We develop rates of educational attainment from Current Population

Survey (CPS) data.2 The basis for projections is a model of educational continuation ratios

derived from a table of educational attainment by age group, gender and race/ethnicity from four

years of March CPS data: 1983, 1988, 1993 and 1998. Up until 1998, separate data by nativity

was not available, so educational differences by nativity can only be estimated in cross-sectional

form. The overall form of the model will be explained below. 
6

Educational upgrading across cohorts

Table 1 shows educational attainment levels at four points in time (1983, 1988, 1993 and

1998) for white men and women born between 1893 and 1972. To accentuate the focus on

cohorts, table 1 is arranged differently than other tables of this type. Each row of the table refers

to a birth cohort (rather than age group) and cohort educational attainment patterns are listed

across the table. Those born in 1953-1957, for example, were 26-30 in 1983; 31-35 in 1988; 

36-40 in 1993 and 41-45 in 1998. The percentage of white males from this cohort who said they

didn’t finish high school was 10.7, 10.6, 7.9 and 7.8 for each year respectively. 

Past attempts to make educational comparisons across cohorts have often used crosssectional data. The rationale for this practice is that after the age of 30, few people change their

education levels, making it attractive to assume that education levels are stable after that point.

Table 1 shows how dangerous that assumption can be. For example, if we were to compare the

college completion rates of males from the youngest four cohorts based on data from 1998, we

would conclude these rates were stagnant. The percentages were 30.4, 29.5, 30.4 and 30.4 for

the 1953-57 cohort through the 1968-72 cohort. By contrast, if we based our measures on

surveys taken at the same age for each cohort, we would conclude that rates have grown. In this

case, the rates are 26.3, 25.7, 27.2 and 30.4 for the four cohorts. The data support the latter

approach. 

Projection models

To develop the insights available from table 1 and to make predictions into the future, it

is necessary to produce a model that represents the observed patterns. This, in turn, requires that
7

there be enough stability in underlying trends to support models with a reasonable level of fit to

the data while permitting extrapolation into the future.

Our choice for modeling educational attainment is the “continuation ratio” model. It

models the odds of completing each level of education conditional on having completed the next

lower level. That is, 

Prob (Y > y | Y > y-1) = f (cohort, gender, ethnicity, immigration),

where f() is the inverse logit function. In words, the model calculates the probability of

completing the next highest education level, given completion of the preceding level. For

example completion of college is modeled only for those who have attended some college. An

advantage of this approach is the ability to model separate effects of variables at different

transitions. Additionally, the parameter estimates from this model are not affected by the level of

educational attainment at a given point in time, making it ideal for modeling longitudinal

changes in education (Mare 1981). For purposes of presentation, the continuation ratios are

converted to overall percentages completing each level of education, as these percentages are

easier to interpret and more useful for projections. The independent variables are age,

race/ethnicity, gender and year. In order to better represent cohort processes, age was recoded to

reflect year of birth, rather than age at the time of survey. A dummy variable for each of the

youngest two age groups was included, along with a linear term to reflect changes in educational

attainment as people age. A dummy variable was introduced to capture the effects of

questionnaire changes in 1992. A number of interactions between ethnicity, gender, nativity,
8

cohort, and transition were modeled, resulting in a model that tracks observed trends fairly

closely. 

Two forms of the model were produced. In one model, a series of dummy variables were

used to fit the baseline educational continuation rate for each of the four educational transitions

for each cohort. Sex, race/ethnicity, nativity and age were represented parametrically. To project

educational attainment for cohorts that had not completed their schooling, it was assumed that

the average rate of educational attainment for the last four cohorts of the reference group (White

males born 1953 to 1972) would continue unchanged into the future, while other groups

continued to advance or decline relative to this flat projection. In the second model, the baseline

trend in educational continuation at each level was modeled as a linear function of cohort. In

order to accommodate a pronounced curvature in the historical series, the line was allowed to

take on a different slope for the cohorts following the birth year 1948. Because the first approach

(using dummy variables) produced lower estimates of educational attainment overall, it is

referred to as the “low” projection. The model using linear trend parameters produced the

“high” projection.

Figure 1 shows college attendance rates of white males by cohort as projected by the two

models. The dots in each of the two graphs are observed transition rates for each 5-year cohort;

the model-based projections of cohort educational continuation rates are represented by lines. 

The “low” model fits a dummy for each 5-year cohort, as was just discussed, resulting in a close

mapping of cohort-to-cohort fluctuations in educational transitions. The attainment of young

cohorts that have not completed their education is a simple continuation of recent levels. Note

that the observed level of college attentance for white males in the cohort born in 1973 is already
9

higher than that predicted by this model. That is because recent cohorts have generally shown an

upturn in educational attainment, especially at the college level. As a result, the “low” model

turns out to be more conservative than simply projecting current rates forward for most groups

being projected here.

The “high” model, by contrast, does not fit small shifts in the data, but is able to provide

projections to future cohorts based on continuation of current trends — in this case a straight line

effect of cohort. Note that this projection line goes higher than the observed point for the 1973

cohort. In fact, comparison of the “high” and “low” models shows that most of the difference in

projections for younger cohorts have to do with the starting level (1973 cohort) rather than the

slope of changes for subsequent cohorts. 

Results

Table 2 shows our projections of educational attainment of the 25 and over population to

2028. The overall education levels increase by either the “low” or the “high” projections. High

school completion is slated to increase by 4 to 7 percentage points, college attendance (some

college or higher) by 7 to 12 percentage points and college graduation by 4 to 5 percentage

points. Nearly all groups show increases in educational attainment levels from 2003 to 2028. 

(The only exceptions are males at the bachelor’s degree level, where slight declines are predicted

for some non-White groups.) The largest increases are observed among native females. At the

“some college” or higher level, there will be a 10 to 15 point increase by the “low” projection

and a 17 to 22 percent increase by the “high” projection. Completion of high school and

bachelor’s level education will increase by 5 to 15 percent for native females. 
10

By contrast to females, males show lower educational growth by both models. The

greatest growth in education by native males is among Black and Hispanic males at the high

school level, where growth is in the range of 5 to 15 percentage points.

The high projection shows a greater increase in attainment at the “some college” or higher

level among natives than among the foreign-born. Otherwise, foreign-born are expected to gain

more in education than natives, overall, by both projections. As with natives, the growth in

education by the foreign-born seems mostly driven by increases among females -- especially

Asian females who are expected to increase their rate of completion at all three levels by 6 to 16

percentage points.

These results need to be taken cautiously, however. Certain projections produce rates of

attainment that seem somewhat unreasonable, given past experience. According to the “high”

projection, overall high school completion rates for natives will be nearly 94 percent. It will be

over 95 percent for Whites and Asians. The assumption underlying this model is that past trends

can carry forward without interruption. However, if there is a residual group for whom high

school completion is especially difficult these trends may not come about. Also, if there is

expansion of policies implementing graduation standards and discouraging social promotion, the

portion of students who find themselves unable to complete high school may increase.

The increases in educational attainment observed in Table 2 are the result of two basic

processes -- mortality of older cohorts and the educational attainment of younger ones. One

reason for the observed increases is that the process of cohort succession is still powerful enough

to drive trends upward. Even if younger cohorts do not advance greatly in attainment (as

assumed in the “low” model) the process of cohort succession is apparently powerful enough to
3

 Of the 9 point difference in high school predictions in 2028, 3.5 points are due to

difference in 2003. At some college, around half the 2028 difference is there in 2003. At college

completion nearly all the difference (7 points of a 7.6 point difference) is there in 2003.

11

overcome any downgrading due to shifts in population composition. 

The projections for younger cohorts are shown in Table 3. Both the “low” and “high”

models predict increasing attainment at the level of “some college” or higher. The “low”

projection shows a slight decline in high school completion for the native population. Much of

the difference between the two projections is determined by the starting point.3 The effect of

these predictions are shown more clearly in Figure 2 and Figure 3. In Figure 2, historic trends in

high school completion of people age 30-34 in each decade from 1940 to 1998 are compared to

projected trends based on the two models. There is considerable uncertainty about the direction

of high school completion reflected in this figure. Although the “high” projection shows a

continuing upward trend, the “low” projection shows that the flattened profile of high school

completion over the past two decades may be a peak from which we will descend in the future. 

Figure 3 shows college completion rates. At first this figure appears to show even more

uncertainty than did the previous one. Appearances are deceiving due to the change in vertical

scale, which makes the differences appear larger than they are relative to Figure 2. More

important, nearly all the difference between the two projections is due to differences in starting

points, which is entirely due to assumptions discussed above. Under both projections, the trends

are upward. The conclusion from Figure 3 is that even if we assume that college completion

rates fall from their current levels, the long term trend points to increased college completion.
4

In addition to the very high completion rates (above 95%) projected in the “high”

model of high school, the growth in high school completion is mainly driven by large expected

increases in high school completion by foreign-born Hispanics. These are also less plausible

than the “low” predictions.

12

Immigration

The evidence presented so far has shown that foreign born population is growing in

educational attainment relative to the rest of the population. At the same time, however, the

overall education levels of the foreign born are much lower than those of the native population. 

The net effect of immigration, therefore, is uncertain. One way to assess the impact of future

immigration is to compare alternative educational projections under the assumption of continued

immigration and under the assumption of zero immigration. The results of this exercise are

shown in Table 4. Here again we see a contrast between the “low” model and the “high” model. 

Under the former model, the zero immigration forecast shows higher educational attainment at

all levels. Under the “high” model, it is the standard forecast that shows higher education levels. 

To be on the safe side, then, it is best to say that the direction of change is indeterminate. 

At the high school level, we believe immigration will probably make a negative impact. 

The reasoning is as follows. The “low” projection shows the greatest advantage for the zero

immigration scenario at the high school level, while the “high” projection shows an advantage

for the standard scenario that is around half the size. At the same time, the high school

projections of the “high” model are probably a bit higher than we would reasonably expect,

giving us a bit more trust in the “low” projections.4

At the “some college” or higher levels, it is difficult to choose one projection over the

other. Thus we prefer to maintain a noncommital stance. The net impact of immigration is
13

simply too difficult to forecast precisely.

Conclusion

We have developed a comprehensive set of educational projections based on two

alternative scenarios that can form the basis for understanding educational trends as they emerge

in the coming century. It is clear from these projections that the educational advance of the U.S.

population will continue into the first part of the new century. To answer the question posed in

the title, we have not reached the top. Educational attainment of the population 25 and over will

increase well into the forseeable future. 

Cohort succession rate remains powerful enough to raise overall education levels. Even

when education is projected not to grow among younger cohorts, overall educational attainment

rises. It is true that we don’t have direct evidence on future educational growth among cohorts

yet to complete their education. If younger cohorts were to get less education, our projections

may be overly optimistic. However, assuming stability in the policy environment, there is little

reason to believe that a downward shift in education is at hand. There has been a marked upturn

in college enrollment and completion among the youngest cohorts observed here. It is observed,

moreover, among nearly all the race and sex subgroups we have examined. Our “low” projection

assumes this upturn will disappear, but it is doubtful that it will become a significant downturn. 

The fact that all ethnic groups are increasing their education levels indicates that changes

in ethnic composition do not suppress educational growth to the extent some observers have

feared. Immigration has an indeterminate impact on educational attainment. A shift to a “zero

immigration” scenario may raise high school completion rates by a few percentage points. The
14

effect on college completion is less certain. However, continued immigration will probably have

an impact of only a few percentage points either way. The contrast between currently high native

educational attainment levels and low levels among the foreign-born paints an exaggerated

picture of the differences involved. 

Our near-term educational future does not seem to depend on differences between Whites

and less-educated minority groups, nor to differences between natives and less-educated foreignborn groups. The greatest contrast is that between high-educational-growth females and loweducational-growth males. Any policy designed to address educational growth needs to be

flexible enough to address the particular challenges facing various groups. It is our hope that

these projections can serve as a jumping-off point for more detailed explorations of the various

mechanisms that encourage or discourage educational growth, and help avoid the necessity of

speculating about our educational future.
15

References.

Bean, Frank. D. and Marta Tienda. 1987. The Hispanic Population of the United States. New

York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Gerald, Debra E. and William J. Hussar. 1997. Projections of Education Statistics to 2008. 

NCES 98-016. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics. 

Jencks, Christopher and Meredith Phillips. 1998. The Black-White Test Score Gap. 

Kominski, Robert. 1988. "Current and Potential Race-Sex Differences in the U.S. Educational

Structure." Presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America. 

Miller, L. Scott. 1997. An American Imperative : Accelerating Minority Educational

Advancement. (Reprint edition.) New Haven, Conn: Yale Univ Press.

Mare, Robert. 1981. "Change and Stability in Educational Stratification." American

Sociological Review. 46:72-87.

Mare, Robert. 1995. "Changes in Educational Attainment and School Enrollment." In Farley,

R. (ed.) State of the Union: America in the 1990s. Volume one: Economic trends. New York:

Russell Sage Foundation. Pp. 155-214.

OECD. 1997. Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 1997. Paris: Organisation for

Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation.

Takahira, Sayuri, Patrick Gonzales, Mary Frase and Laura Hersh Salganik. 1998. Pursuing

Excellence: A study of U.S. Twelfth-Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement in

International Context. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for

Education Statistics.

UNESCO. 1978. Towards a Methodology for Projecting Rates of Literacy and Educational

Attainment. Geneva: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Division

of Statistics on Education.

U.S. Census Bureau. 1997. "School Enrollment — Social and Economic Characteristics of

Students: March 1995: Detailed tables and documentation for P20-492." Series PPL-55. 

U.S. Census Bureau. 1998. "Educational Attainment in the United States: March 1997: Detailed

tables and documentation for P20-505." Series PPL-87. 

U.S. Census Bureau. 2000. Population Projections of the United States by Age, Sex, Race,
16

Hispanic Origin, and Nativity: 1999 to 2100. Population Projections Program, Population

Division, February 14, 2000
17

Table 1

Distribution of Education by Birth Cohort and Interview Year

White Males and Females

White Males White Females

Year Born Education Level 1983 1988 1993 1998 1983 1988 1993 1998 

1968-72 Less than HS 7.5 5.4 

1968-72 High School grad 31.2 27.6 

1968-72 Some college 30.8 32.8 

1968-72 Bachelors 24.9 27.8 

1968-72 Masters or more 5.5 6.4 

1963-67 Less than HS 9.4 7.9 8.2 5.9 

1963-67 High School grad 36.0 35.4 35.2 31.9 

1963-67 Some college 27.5 26.3 29.5 29.6 

1963-67 Bachelors 22.3 22.7 22.8 24.8 

1963-67 Masters or more 4.9 7.7 4.3 7.8 

1958-62 Less than HS 11.6 9.8 9.0 9.1 8.0 6.6 

1958-62 High School grad 39.2 37.4 35.7 41.0 36.4 35.0 

1958-62 Some college 23.5 25.1 25.8 25.4 30.1 30.0 

1958-62 Bachelors 18.0 20.0 20.1 17.8 19.7 20.7 

1958-62 Masters or more 7.7 7.7 9.4 6.7 5.8 7.6 

1953-57 Less than HS 10.7 10.6 7.9 7.8 10.7 8.1 6.9 6.3 

1953-57 High School grad 37.3 37.3 35.5 33.6 40.7 40.6 35.5 34.0 

1953-57 Some college 25.7 23.1 28.0 28.1 26.0 26.6 30.3 30.9 

1953-57 Bachelors 16.7 17.8 18.8 20.2 15.6 16.1 19.4 20.4 

1953-57 Masters or more 9.6 11.2 9.8 10.2 7.1 8.5 7.9 8.4 

1948-52 Less than HS 9.4 9.0 6.9 7.5 10.1 9.0 7.3 6.4 

1948-52 High School grad 30.0 32.6 29.4 28.3 38.6 38.6 35.4 35.9 

1948-52 Some college 27.7 25.3 28.9 29.9 25.8 26.8 29.5 29.3 

1948-52 Bachelors 18.2 17.5 21.6 20.4 15.2 14.4 17.3 17.4 

1948-52 Masters or more 14.8 15.6 13.2 13.9 10.3 11.2 10.6 11.0 

1943-47 Less than HS 12.4 11.0 9.0 10.8 12.2 10.6 9.3 8.9 

1943-47 High School grad 31.0 30.7 31.3 28.1 43.5 41.1 38.7 38.2 

1943-47 Some college 23.3 22.5 25.8 25.6 22.8 24.9 27.1 26.1 

1943-47 Bachelors 15.9 17.5 17.6 19.9 11.6 12.9 15.0 16.9 

1943-47 Masters or more 17.4 18.2 16.3 15.6 10.0 10.5 9.9 9.9 

1938-42 Less than HS 17.4 14.7 13.1 13.3 15.9 15.4 13.0 13.0 

1938-42 High School grad 35.2 35.7 35.0 35.9 44.6 44.2 43.7 41.8 

1938-42 Some college 19.0 20.5 23.2 21.4 20.5 20.3 22.2 24.1 

1938-42 Bachelors 13.5 12.1 14.4 16.1 11.1 10.8 12.6 13.5 

1938-42 Masters or more 15.0 17.0 14.2 13.3 7.9 9.3 8.4 7.6 

1933-37 Less than HS 21.1 20.7 19.5 17.7 20.1 19.6 18.7 18.8 

1933-37 High School grad 36.2 35.0 34.3 35.4 48.5 49.0 44.0 45.0 

1933-37 Some college 16.2 17.6 18.3 19.7 18.2 17.5 21.7 20.7 

1933-37 Bachelors 13.2 13.1 15.1 14.7 7.0 8.5 9.6 10.0 

1933-37 Masters or more 13.3 13.6 12.8 12.5 6.1 5.4 6.0 5.5 
18

Table 1 Continued

White Males White Females

Year Born Education Level 1983 1988 1993 1998 1983 1988 1993 1998 

1928-32 less than HS 25.4 25.7 23.9 22.3 22.9 24.8 22.1 21.5 

1928-32 High School grad 33.5 36.0 34.0 31.6 47.9 45.9 46.5 46.1 

1928-32 some college 15.3 16.5 18.2 19.3 16.0 16.5 16.9 19.0 

1928-32 bachelors 13.8 11.1 13.1 14.5 8.2 7.2 9.0 8.7 

1928-32 masters or more 12.0 10.7 10.8 12.3 5.1 5.5 5.5 4.6 

1923-27 less than HS 32.2 32.0 29.8 27.8 28.0 27.8 25.9 24.5 

1923-27 High School grad 30.8 32.2 34.0 31.9 46.6 46.0 46.4 43.2 

1923-27 some college 15.4 14.8 16.0 17.8 14.4 15.8 16.5 20.4 

1923-27 bachelors 10.9 11.6 12.8 13.4 6.7 6.2 7.8 8.0 

1923-27 masters or more 10.7 9.4 7.5 9.1 4.4 4.2 3.4 3.9 

1918-22 less than HS 35.0 33.9 30.6 27.7 32.3 30.9 30.5 29.4 

1918-22 High School grad 33.7 35.2 34.4 34.9 44.2 45.6 43.6 39.0 

1918-22 some college 14.1 13.9 16.9 18.9 13.6 14.6 17.2 20.1 

1918-22 bachelors 9.0 9.1 10.3 10.6 6.4 5.3 6.6 9.0 

1918-22 masters or more 8.2 7.9 7.8 7.9 3.5 3.6 2.1 2.5 

1913-17 less than HS 41.9 43.5 37.2 32.8 41.7 38.7 39.4 35.0 

1913-17 High School grad 31.8 30.2 31.7 33.6 37.6 39.3 39.3 37.8 

1913-17 some college 12.6 12.9 17.1 18.4 12.2 12.5 13.6 16.4 

1913-17 bachelors 7.1 7.4 8.4 9.7 5.6 5.6 5.2 6.7 

1913-17 masters or more 6.6 5.9 5.6 5.5 3.0 4.0 2.6 4.1 

1908-12 less than HS 51.9 46.0 47.1 46.0 46.6 46.4 47.6 45.6 

1908-12 High School grad 24.2 28.3 27.4 22.6 31.3 33.4 30.7 29.7 

1908-12 some college 10.1 11.3 12.4 15.4 12.5 11.3 11.9 14.0 

1908-12 bachelors 7.6 7.8 7.1 8.8 6.1 5.6 7.1 7.7 

1908-12 masters or more 6.2 6.6 6.1 7.2 3.5 3.4 2.8 3.0 

1903-07 less than HS 56.5 56.8 55.9 55.3 51.6 48.2 

1903-07 High School grad 19.7 20.9 17.2 24.6 28.2 28.6 

1903-07 some college 10.0 8.1 11.3 11.2 10.4 13.4 

1903-07 bachelors 7.1 7.4 10.1 5.4 6.4 7.8 

1903-07 masters or more 6.7 6.9 5.5 3.5 3.4 2.0 

1898-02 less than HS 68.5 66.2 61.4 58.7 

1898-02 High School grad 15.4 17.3 21.2 22.4 

1898-02 some college 7.3 7.4 10.0 11.8 

1898-02 bachelors 5.8 3.9 5.3 4.8 

1898-02 masters or more 3.0 5.3 2.1 2.3 

1893-97 less than HS 67.2 62.6 

1893-97 High School grad 17.4 20.9 

1893-97 some college 6.2 9.7 

1893-97 bachelors 4.3 4.9 

1893-97 masters or more 4.9 1.9 
19

FIGURE 1

Projections of College Attendance by Native White Males

“Low” projection

“High” projection
20

Table 2

Educational Attainment Projections to 2028, U.S. Population Age 25 and Older.

Percent at Stated Level or Higher -

2003

 Percent at Stated Level or Higher -

2028

 High 

School 

 Postsecondary Bachelor’s  High 

School 

 Postsecondary Bachelor’s 

“LOW” PROJECTION

Total 83.2 48.4 23.9 87.3 55.8 27.6 

Natives

 Total 85.7 49.4 23.7 90.3 57.2 27.3 

 White male 88.3 55.1 29.5 92.7 59.9 31.3 

 Black male 77.2 37.8 13.3 86.3 42.5 12.7 

 Hispanic male 67.1 37.9 14.8 73.0 40.9 13.6 

 Asian male 91.3 68.2 46.3 95.5 73.0 46.0 

 White female 88.0 48.5 22.1 93.6 61.0 30.3 

 Black female 77.7 39.2 13.6 88.1 51.7 17.4 

 Hispanic female 65.9 35.3 13.0 74.2 46.1 16.9 

 Asian female 86.9 59.7 37.4 94.0 74.9 48.8 

Foreign-born

 Total 67.2 42.2 25.1 72.5 49.1 29.1 

 Hispanic male 46.1 25.0 11.2 49.9 25.5 10.4 

 Asian male 87.0 66.1 49.1 91.1 71.7 50.7 

 Hispanic female 44.3 21.4 8.3 50.4 25.9 10.0 

 Asian female 81.1 54.3 35.6 87.5 66.1 44.3 

“HIGH” PROJECTION

Total 84.0 50.9 25.6 91.0 62.8 30.8 

Native-born

 Total 86.4 52.0 25.5 93.7 64.4 30.5 

 White male 88.7 56.2 30.1 95.0 64.1 31.8 

 Black male 79.5 39.6 13.1 91.8 47.5 11.6 

 Hispanic male 69.9 40.2 15.2 84.4 50.0 14.3 

 Asian male 92.3 70.5 48.3 98.3 79.6 48.4 

 White female 88.4 52.0 25.2 95.4 69.1 36.3 

 Black female 79.7 44.1 15.6 92.5 62.7 20.4 

 Hispanic female 69.1 40.9 15.9 85.4 62.5 23.8 

 Asian female 88.6 65.4 43.5 97.9 86.5 60.2 

Foreign-born

 Total 68.0 44.1 26.5 77.3 54.8 32.0 

 Hispanic male 46.6 24.2 10.2 56.6 26.5 8.8 

 Asian male 87.6 67.8 49.8 93.3 75.9 50.5 

 Hispanic female 45.6 23.0 9.2 58.0 32.4 12.3 

 Asian female 82.4 59.0 40.0 90.9 74.7 51.6 
21

Table 3

Educational Attainment Projections to 2028, U.S. Population Age 30 to 35

Percent at Stated Level or Higher - 2003 Percent at Stated Level or Higher - 2028

 High School Some 

College 

 Bachelor’s  High School Some 

College 

 Bachelor’s 

“LOW” PROJECTION

Total 86.1 50.8 21.7 85.8 54.7 24.6 

 Natives 89.6 52.4 21.6 88.6 56.1 24.4 

 Foreign-born 67.7 42.3 22.3 69.4 47.0 25.9 

“HIGH” PROJECTION

Total 89.6 59.2 28.7 94.8 70.2 32.2 

 Natives 93.0 61.2 28.9 96.8 71.7 32.0 

 Foreign-born 71.6 48.3 27.9 83.2 61.1 33.3 
22

FIGURE 4
23

FIGURE 5
24

Table 4

Effect of Immigration:

Comparison of Standard and "Zero Immigration" Projections for 2028

Projections

2003 2028

“LOW” PROJECTION

High

School

Some

College

Bachelor'sHigh

School

Some

College

Bachelor's

Standard projection 86.1 50.8 21.7 85.8 54.7 24.6 

Zero immigration 84.8 49.1 23.7 89.8 57.0 27.5 

“HIGH” PROJECTION

High

School

Some

College

Bachelor'sHigh

School

Some

College

Bachelor's

Standard projection 89.6 59.2 28.7 94.8 70.2 32.2 

Zero immigration 85.6 51.7 25.5 93.0 63.9 30.5 
25

August 3, 2000

POPULATION DIVISION WORKING PAPER SERIES

For copies of these working papers, please contact the

Statistical Information Staff, Population Division, Bureau of the

Census, Washington, DC 20233-8800 (301)457-2422/pop@census.gov

NO. 1 - "The Census Bureau Approach for Allocating 

 International Migration to States, Counties, and

Places: 1981-1991." David L. Word. October 1992.

NO. 2 - "Geographic Coding of Administrative Records--

Past Experience and Current Research." Douglas K.

Sater. April 1993.

NO. 3 - "Postcensal Population Estimates: States, Counties,

and Places." John F. Long. August 1993.

NO. 4 - "Evaluating the Passel-Word Spanish Surname List: 

 1990 Decennial Census Post Enumeration Survey Results."

 R. Colby Perkins. August 1993.

NO. 5 - "Evaluation of Postcensal County Estimates for the

 1980s." Sam T. Davis. March 1994.

NO. 6 - "Metropolitan Growth and Expansion in the 1980s."

 Richard L. Forstall and James D. Fitzsimmons.

 April 1993.

NO. 7 - "Geographic Coding of Administrative Records -- Current

 Research in ZIP/Sector-to-County Coding Process."

 Douglas K. Sater. June 1994.

NO. 8 - "Illustrative Ranges of the Distribution of 

 Undocumented Immigrants by State." Edward W. Fernandez 

 and J. Gregory Robinson. October 1994.

NO. 9 - "Estimates of Emigration of the Foreign-Born 

 Population: 1980-l990." Bashir Ahmed and

 J. Gregory Robinson. December 1994.

NO. 10 - "Estimation of the Annual Emigration of U.S. Born 

 Persons by Using Foreign Censuses and Selected

 Administrative Data: Circa 1980."

 Edward W. Fernandez. January 1995.
26

NO. ll - "Using Analytic Techniques to Evaluate the 1990 Census

Coverage of Young Hispanics." Edward Fernandez. May

1995.

NO. 12 - "Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas:

New Approaches to Geographical Definition."

Donald C. Dahmann and James D. Fitzsimmons.

October 1995.

NO. 13 - "Building a Spanish Surname List for the 1990's--

A New Approach to An Old Problem."

David L. Word and R. Colby Perkins, Jr.

February 1996.

NO. 14 - "Fertility of American Men."

Amara Bachu. March 1996.

NO. 15 - "Comparisons of Selected Social and Economic 

Characteristics Between Asians, Hawaiians, Pacific 

Islanders, and American Indians (Including Alaskan 

Natives)." Edward W. Fernandez. June 1996.

NO. 16 - "Findings on Questions on Race and Hispanic Origin 

Tested in the 1996 National Content Survey." 

Prepared in the Population Division by the Racial 

Statistics Branch and the Ethnic and Hispanic 

Statistics Branch. December 1996.

NO. 17 - "Race and Ethnicity Classification Consistency Between 

the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health 

Statistics." Larry Sink. February 1997. 

NO. 18 - "Results of the 1996 Race and Ethnic Targeted Test." 

May 1997.

NO. 19 - "Who Responds/Who Doesn’t? Analyzing Variation in Mail

Response Rates During the 1990 Census." David L. Word. 

July 1997. 

No. 20 - "Trends in Marital Status of U.S. Women at First Birth:

 1930 to 1994." Amara Bachu. March 1998.

No. 21 - "State Estimates of Organized Child Care Facilities."

Lynne Casper and Martin O’Connell. March 1998. 

 

No. 22 - "How Well Does the Current Population Survey Measure the 

 Foreign-Born Population in the United States"

Dianne Schmidley and J. Gregory Robinson. April 1998 
27

No. 23 - "Poverty, Family Structure, and Child Well-Being:

Indicators from the SIPP." Jason Fields and Kristin

Smith. April 1998

No. 24 - "Child Well-Being Indicators from the SIPP." 

Kristin Smith, Loretta Bass, and Jason Fields.

April 1998

No. 25 - "Timing of First Births: 1930-34, 1990-94."

Amara Bachu. May 1998

No. 26 - "Co-Resident Grandparents and Grandchildren: Grandparent 

 Maintained Families." Lynne Casper and Ken Bryson

May 1998

No. 27 - "Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban 

 Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990." 

Campbell Gibson. June 1998

No. 28 - "Are There Differences in Voting Behavior Between 

 Naturalized and Native-born Americans?"

Loretta E. Bass and Lynne M. Casper. March 1999.

No. 29 - "Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-born

Population of the United States: 1850-1990." 

Campbell J. Gibson. February 1999

No. 30 - "Direct Measures of Poverty as Indicators of Economic

Need: Evidence from the Survey of Income and Program

Participation." Kurt J. Bauman. November 1998

No. 31 - "American Community Survey and Intercensal Population

Estimates: Where Are the Cross-roads?"

Amy Symens. December 1998

No. 32 - "Women’s Labor Force Attachment Patterns and Maternity

Leave: A Review of the Literature."

Kristen Smith and Amara Bachu. January 1999 

No. 33 - "Evaluation of Relationship, Marital Status, and

Grandparents Items on the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal"

Charles Clark and Jason Fields. April 1999.

No. 34 - "Unbinding the Ties: Edit Effects of Marital Status on 

 Same Gender Couples." Charles Clark and Jason Fields. 

 April 1999.
28

No. 35 - "Racial-Ethnic and Gender Differences in Returns to

Cohabitation and Marriage: Evidence from the Current

Population Survey." Philip N. Cohen. May 1999.

No. 36 - "How Does POSSLQ Measure Up? Historical Estimates of

Cohabitation." Lynne Casper, Philip N. Cohen, and

Tavia Simmons. May 1999.

No. 37 - "Childlessness Among American Women On the Rise?".

Amara Bachu. May 1999.

 

No. 38 - "Methodology and Assumptions for the Population 

 Projections of the United States: 1999 to 2100" 

Frederick Hollman, Tammany Mulder, and

Jeffrey Kallan. October 1999.

No. 39 - "What Do We Know About the Undercount of Children?"

Kirsten K. West and J. Gregory Robinson. 

August 1999.

No. 40 - "Birth Expectations of Women: New Data from June 1998 

Current Population Survey." 

Amara Bachu and Kristen Smith. Release Pending

No. 41 - "Trends in Labor Force and Employment Characteristics of 

 Married-Couple Families With or Without Children."

Amara Bachu. Release Pending

No. 42 - "Measures of Help Available to Households in Need: 

Their Relationship to Well-Being, Welfare, and Work." 

Kurt J. Bauman and Barbara A. Downs. May 2000

No. 43 - "Have We Reached the Top? Educational Attainment

Projections of the U.S. Population."

Jennifer Cheeseman Day and Kurt J. Bauman. May 2000