{"id":40966,"date":"2012-11-05T12:15:39","date_gmt":"2012-11-05T17:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2012\/11\/05\/us-high-school-and-college-completion-rates-continue-to-climb\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T08:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:41:09","slug":"us-high-school-and-college-completion-rates-continue-to-climb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2012\/11\/05\/us-high-school-and-college-completion-rates-continue-to-climb\/","title":{"rendered":"Higher Achievements: U.S. High School and College Completion Rates Continue to Climb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Record shares of young adults are completing high school, going to college and finishing college, according to a Pew Research Center <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2012\/11\/05\/record-shares-of-young-adults-have-finished-both-high-school-and-college\/\">analysis of newly available census data<\/a>. In 2012, for the first time ever, one-third of the nation\u2019s 25- to 29-year-olds have completed at least a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These across-the-board increases have occurred despite dramatic immigration-driven changes in the racial and ethnic composition of college-age young adults, a trend that had led some experts to expect a decline in educational attainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2012\/11\/05\/us-high-school-and-college-completion-rates-continue-to-climb\/st_12-10-22_educational_attainment-2\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"efeeea\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"590\" height=\"2141\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2012\/11\/st_12.10.22_educational_attainment-2.png?resize=480,1742 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2012\/11\/st_12.10.22_educational_attainment-2.png?resize=590,2141 590w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2012\/11\/st_12.10.22_educational_attainment-2.png?w=282\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-351274 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #efeeea; aspect-ratio:0.27557216254086875;width:590px;height:auto\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Record shares of young adults are completing high school, going to college and finishing college.  In 2012, for the first time ever, one-third of the nation\u2019s 25- to 29-year-olds have completed at least a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[{"key":"f86bd4c0-1656-440f-b49b-154964b87115","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2012\/11\/05\/record-shares-of-young-adults-have-finished-both-high-school-and-college\/","label":"<strong>Report<\/strong> Record Shares of Young Adults Have Finished Both High School and College","icon":"report"}],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[724],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[374,388],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[2812,2811,2813],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[519],"workflow-status":[],"collection":[],"class_list":["post-40966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-higher-education","category-younger-adults","primary_audience-engaged-public","primary_audience-media","primary_audience-stakeholders","formats-report","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-social-trends"],"label":"Report","post_parent":0,"word_count":82,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2012\/11\/05\/us-high-school-and-college-completion-rates-continue-to-climb\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[{"id":724,"name":"msolorzano","email":"msolorzano-temp@pewresearch.org","slack_user_id":"","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f86893a13d28433dcc6c4512a48b171b84ea93b30b59a30560a70570b12b1dec?s=48&d=mm&r=g"}],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":[{"key":"f86bd4c0-1656-440f-b49b-154964b87115","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2012\/11\/05\/record-shares-of-young-adults-have-finished-both-high-school-and-college\/","label":"<strong>Report<\/strong> Record Shares of Young Adults Have Finished Both High School and College","icon":"report","attachmentId":""}],"report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Higher Achievements: U.S. High School and College Completion Rates Continue to Climb","parent_id":40966},"materialsOrdered":[{"key":"f86bd4c0-1656-440f-b49b-154964b87115","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2012\/11\/05\/record-shares-of-young-adults-have-finished-both-high-school-and-college\/","label":"Report Record Shares of Young Adults Have Finished Both High School and College","attachmentId":0,"icon":"report"}],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Higher Achievements: U.S. High School and College Completion Rates Continue to Climb","description":"Record shares of young adults are completing high school, going to college and finishing college.  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