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By the Numbers: Stalled Generational Gains in Educational
Achievement Continue
According to a recently released supplement to the Minorities in
Higher Education 23rd Status Report, younger adults no longer
achieve a higher level of education than their parents and other
previous generations.
As of 2007, 35.5 percent of adults aged 25 to 29 had obtained at
least an associate degree, compared with approximately the same
percentage of adults aged 30 and older (34.9 percent). Only two groups,
Asian Americans and whites, made gains over their elders (66 percent vs.
55 percent, and 42 percent vs. 38 percent, respectively).
Among other findings from the 2009 supplement to Minorities in
Higher Education, published by the American Council on
Education:
- During the past two decades, the high school completion rate
remained stagnant for young people at about 82 percent, on average. At
the same time, gender gaps have widened, primarily because young women
have made greater strides than men.
- In contrast to high school completion, the past two decades resulted
in a steady rise in college enrollment rates among young people in every
racial/ethnic background. Enrollment rates stalled briefly in the
mid-1990s but began rising again, and now 41 percent of the traditional
college-aged population is enrolled in college. This represents a
substantial increase of 11 percentage points in 20 years.
- The total number of college students now has reached 18 million. The
number of minority students grew by 50 percent to 5 million, and the
number of white students increased by 10 percent to 11 million during
the past decade. Among minorities, Hispanics experienced the largest
absolute and percent growth rate gains.
- From 1996 to 2006, the number of associate and bachelor's degrees
awarded grew by 37 percent, a substantial increase attributable to every
racial/ethnic group. Hispanics led all others in growth rate for both
types of undergraduate degrees. . . .
Excerpted from the winter 2010 issue of The Presidency.
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| Excerpt By the Numbers The Presidency winter 2010 |
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