Average Years of Education
Average years of educational attainment for people aged 25‒54.
Why did we include this measure?
Test scores only capture some of the knowledge and skills we expect of young people. But students’ motivation to learn and work hard, the ability to collaborate with and get along with others, and the wherewithal to persist through difficulties (sometimes now called “grit”) are also important. Years of education is a useful signal of these “soft skills.” By staying in school longer, students also engage in activities that help them improve on these dimensions. This is apparently why, when researchers look at the life outcomes of people who have the same test scores, the ones with more years of education have better outcomes on a wide range of measures, including earnings, employment, happiness, civic participation, life expectancy, and other measures of health. However, concern has arisen in recent years that the same level of education no longer reflects the same level of skill and knowledge, due to grade inflation and reduced standards. While the research on this is unsettled, it is still clear that students are learning useful skills and knowledge as they pass through the education system.
Formal education usually focuses on general skills, but our measure of years of education also includes more job- and career-oriented skills that are taught in community colleges and involve certificates in addition to academic degrees. There is increasing interest in alternative credentials, such as competency-based programs and digital badges, which place less focus on classroom time and let students progress and receive credentials based on whether they have demonstrated knowledge or experience in a particular area. These credentials are not yet very common or well-measured so while we are forced to omit them, we intend to include them in future reports when the data become available.
How does the US rank globally?
- Specific Measure: (Same as above.)
(Source: Authors’ analysis of International Labor Organization data).
- Percentage of countries the US outperforms: 86% (out of 28 countries)
- International Rank Trend: Stable
National Trend Improving
What do the data show?
This has been a US strength for much of the last few decades (as well as the last century) and continues today. Average years of education has increased steadily from about 13.1 years in 1994 to a plateau of 14.1 since 2020. In other words, 25- to 54-year-olds in the United States used to attain the equivalent of “some college” (13 years of education), on average, and they now attain the equivalent of an associate’s degree (14 years of education). We also rank above the vast majority of comparison countries.
What might explain these patterns?
The steady rise through 2020 in years of education follows a longstanding US trend. It is also a longstanding international trend, which is why our international standing has remained stable even as our years of education have risen. Given the accompanying decline in test scores in recent years (see above), concern has arisen that students are not learning as much as in the past while they are in school, which might make rising years of education misleading. On the other hand, time in school may develop skills, knowledge, and dispositions other than what is measured on these tests.
For more information about data sources and treatments, download the Data Notes.