39 College Graduates Statistics 2026

Report Highlights

In 2024, those who’ve obtained their bachelor’s degree or higher had an employment rate of 88%.
35.9% of the native-born population aged 25 and older have obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher, a rate slightly higher than that of the foreign-born population at 34.7%
44% of Americans aged 25 and older have completed college, with 35% holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.
As of 2024, among individuals aged 25 and older, 41.8% of White, 27.6% of Black, 59.3% of Asian, and 20.9% of Hispanic individuals hold at least a bachelor’s degree.

Getting a college degree is one of the biggest steps a person can take.

It affects your job options, your income, and your future. The data shows that graduates earn more, stay employed longer, and live healthier lives.

Every year, millions of Americans earn their degrees and join the workforce. The numbers keep growing — and so does the cost.

Want to know how college graduation connects to pay? See our full breakdown at Average College Graduate Salaries.

Graduation Rate for Students Obtaining their Bachelor’s Degree

In 2018, the six-year graduation rate for full-time undergraduate students was 62%. This means that 62% of students who entered college in the fall of 2012 obtained their bachelor’s degree by 2018.
The graduation rate for public institutions was 61%.
Private nonprofit institutions had a graduation rate of 67%.
Private for-profit institutions had a graduation rate of 25%.
Females had a 65% graduation rate, and males had a 59% graduation rate.
For public universities, females had a 64% and males had a 58% graduation rate.
For private nonprofit colleges, females had a 70% and males had a 64% graduation rate.
For private for-profit schools, males had a 26% graduation rate compared to females at 25%.

In addition, the numbers varied depending on the acceptance rate of an institution. According to this data, the more selective the school was during the application process, the higher the likelihood that the students had of obtaining their bachelor’s degree.

For 4-year colleges with an open admissions policy, only about 34% of college students obtained their bachelor’s degree.
At 4-year institutions that had an acceptance rate of under 25%, the graduation rate was 90% within a six-year period.
In October 2020, among those who are ages 20 to 29, 59.2% obtained their associate’s degree.
67.3% in this age group obtained their bachelor’s degree.
74.7% of any person who had obtained their degree in this age bracket were employed.

By 2024, the overall six-year graduation rate had climbed to about 61% across all school types. Women graduated at a rate of 67%, compared to 60% for men.

Race also plays a big role in graduation rates. In 2024, Asian students had a 77% graduation rate. White students were at 73%. Hispanic students graduated at 52%, and Black students at 45%.

Women now make up the majority of college students and have outnumbered men since 1979. In 2024, 69.5% of women from recent high school classes enrolled in college, compared to 55.4% of men.

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How Many People Graduate College?

About 4,000,000 college students are expected to graduate in the 2020 to 2021 school year.
About 983,000 associate’s degrees are expected to be awarded from colleges and universities.
1,998,000 bachelor’s degrees are expected to be awarded in the U.S.
833,000 students are expected to earn a master’s degree.
187,000 students are expected to earn a doctor’s degree.

By the conclusion of the 2020 to 2021 school year, a new set of college students will earn their degrees.

By Spring 2025, bachelor’s degree earners reached 2,167,569 — a steady rise from prior years. Associate degree earners totaled over 1,029,000 in the same period. The number of college graduates has grown at about 1% per year over the past decade.

College Graduate Statistics Breakdown

Of all the different college degrees available, a bachelor’s degree is the one that is earned the most. These statistics are broken down based on 2019 data from people aged 25 to 34.

Among the age group of 25 to 34-year-olds, roughly 50% of the population have earned some form of post secondary degree.

Of this group, there’s a breakdown of the level of degree attained.

Degree	Degree percentage by type of post secondary degree
Associate’s Degree	10%
Bachelor’s Degree	28%
Master’s Degree	10%
Doctoral Degree	2%
Total	50%

College Graduate Demographics

In addition, college graduates have increased their diversity in terms of ethnicity. However, white people still have the highest percentage of degrees attained.

Ethnicity	Ethnicity Percentage of Associate’s Degree Earned
White	56%
Hispanic	21%
Black	13%
Asian	6%
Alaska Native or Native American	3%
Other	1%

Ethnicity	Ethnicity Percentage of Bachelor’s Degree Earned
White	64%
Hispanic	14%
Black	11%
Asian	8%
Mixed (two or more races)	4%
Alaska Native or Native American	0.5%

Only 10.2% of people living in rural areas have attained an associate’s degree or some college.
About 4.5% of people in rural areas have at least a bachelor’s degree or higher.
About 13% of adults in the United States have an associate’s degree.

Latino College Completion in the United States

Hispanics have the lowest percentage of students who obtain a college degree. These statistics break down various statistics based on Hispanic age, degree type, and compared to other ethnicities.

24% of Hispanic adults who are 25 years old or more have an associates degree or higher
In comparison, 46% of White people have associates degrees.
The graduation rate for Hispanics is 2% lower compared to Whites for two-year institutions.
In four-year colleges, Hispanics have a 51% graduation rate, while white people have a 63% graduation rate. This is 12% lower than white people.

For more on how high school completion connects to college enrollment, see our guide on High School Graduates That Go to College.

Student Loan Debt for College Graduates

Student debt is a major part of the college experience for most Americans. Total national student loan debt reached $1.84 trillion as of the end of 2025.

About 47% of the class of 2024 bachelor’s degree graduates left school with debt. Their average balance was about $29,560.

Graduates from private nonprofit schools carried an average of $34,420, while public college graduates owed around $27,420. Black and African American graduates had the highest average debt of any group at about $33,960 upon finishing a bachelor’s degree.

The most popular college majors among graduates are business and STEM fields. Business degrees alone account for about 17% of all postsecondary degrees awarded each year.

Employment Rates of U.S. College Graduates

The National Center for Education Statistics obtained data regarding the employment rate for college graduates who are between ages of 25 to 34. These data indicate that the higher the level of education, the higher the employment rate.

In 2019, college graduates with a bachelor’s degree or higher who are aged 25-34 years old had an employment rate of 87%.
For people who had reported some college had an employment rate of 80%.
Individuals who had only completed high school had an employment rate of 74%.
For people who didn’t complete high school, their employment rate was 57%.
For females, the employment rate was 83% for those who had a bachelor’s degree or higher and only 39% for those who didn’t complete high school.

The table below represents the complete percentages for the employment rate by sex in 2019.

Degree	Total, both sexes	Male	Female
Total, all educational attainment levels	79%	85%	73%
Less than high school completion	57%	72%	39%
High school completion	74%	82%	63%
Some college, no bachelor’s degree	80%	86%	74%
Bachelor’s or high degree	87%	91%	83%

Recent Employment Statistics

According to the 2020 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were some interesting statistics found. Some of the data found may have been skewed due to the recent coronavirus pandemic that may have impacted the ability of recent graduates to obtain employment.

Between January to October 2020, about 1 million 20 to 29-year-old students obtained their bachelor’s degree.
By October 2020, 692,000 of the total recent college graduates were employed.
However, that’s down from October 2019, which was 76%.
In October 2020, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates who had a bachelor’s degree increased by 12.8%.
As of October 2020, 67.1% of females and 67.6% of male recent college graduates with bachelor’s degrees were employed.
The unemployment rate for male recent college graduates with bachelor’s degrees was 16.1% and 10.2% for females.
About 273,000 or one-quarter of the recent bachelor’s degree recipients were enrolled in school by October 2020. As a result, only 42% of these individuals were employed, and 76.4% who weren’t enrolled in school were employed.
Between January to October 2020, there were 306,000 people between the ages of 20 to 29 who obtained a higher degree than Bachelors such as master’s, professional or doctoral degree.
As of October 2020, 74.7% of these graduates were employed compared to 82.3% in October 2019.

Recent College Graduates Who Received Their Associate’s Degree

It’s important to also take a look at college graduates who’ve obtained their associate’s degree and how that impacted their employment status. This data is also based on October 2020 statistics for graduates between the age of 20 to 29.

There were 335,000 of 20 to 29 years old who obtained their associate’s degree from January to October 2020.
Of these graduates, about 59.2% of them were employed. This number was down from about 71.3% in October of 2019.
About 15.8% of recent associate degree recipients were unemployed.
Associate degree recipients are more likely to attend an academic program after compared to vocational school. 57% of them attend academic schools, and 42.7% attend vocational school after obtaining their associate’s degree.
42.7% or 143,000 of recent associate degree recipients were enrolled after receiving their degree.
Of this group, 49.3% were also employed.

By October 2024, the unemployment rate for recent associate degree recipients had dropped to just 2.1%, a strong sign of recovery from the pandemic years.

Additional Benefits to Being a College Graduate

There are more benefits than just having a job. These data points uncover other benefits such as health insurance and life expectancy.

People who have earned a bachelor’s degree are 47% more likely to have their health insurance provided through employment.
In addition, bachelor’s degree holders are 74% more likely to have employers that contribute to their health coverage.
In addition, those who have attended college are more likely to live seven years longer than those who didn’t.

Earning Potential

There’s also evidence that having a college degree improves the odds of having more earning potential. This data will demonstrate the difference in earning potential based on their level of education.

For those who are between the ages of 22 and 27, bachelor’s degree holders earn an average median income of $44,000.
In contrast, high school diploma holders only earn an average of $33,000 annually.
Bachelor’s degree holders are 50% less likely to be unemployed compared to high school degree holders.
In addition, on average, bachelor’s degree holders will earn $1 million in additional earnings over the course of a person’s lifetime.
60% of bachelor’s degrees that are given out in the United States come from public colleges.
Bachelor’s degree holders have a 3.5 times lower poverty rate compared to high school degree holders.
Those who have a bachelor’s degree on average earn about $32,000 more per year.
Millennials who have only earned a high school diploma earn only 62% of a bachelor’s degree holder’s income.
In 2010, unemployment reached its peak in the United States. During this time, recent college graduates had an unemployment rate of 6.9, while other non-graduates had an unemployment rate of 15.8%.
Today, bachelor’s degree holders have a jobless rate of 2.5%.

Life Earnings by Level of Education

High School Diploma	$1,304,000
Some College	$1,547,000
Associates Degree	$1,727,000
Bachelor’s Degree	$2,268,000
Advanced Degree	$2,671,000

By 2040, projections suggest that 60% of the U.S. population will hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, up from under 40% today. The long-term financial case for earning a degree remains strong.

For more context on what graduates earn after school, visit our page on Average College Graduate Salaries.

Breakdown of College Graduates by State

The U.S. The Department of Education has released information that breaks down the number and percentage of graduates. This data shows the difference in data from 2009, 2010, and 2020. According to this data, there has been a drastic improvement in terms of the number of college graduates throughout the United States.

Graduation Rate for Students Obtaining their Bachelor's Degree