United States: Educational attainment, Doctoral or equivalent, population 25+, total (%) (cumulative)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, United States' educational attainment, Doctoral or equivalent, population 25+, total (%) (cumulative) rose 0.1 percentage points on 2023 (from 2.2% to 2.3%).

Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2023), the average change was +0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.05 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.15 percentage points in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.07 percentage points in 2015. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.06 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 94% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 2.45% for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.07%, against 0.09% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2024, United States had the 3rd highest value of the 11 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to United States in the 2024 ranking

• Switzerland — 1st of 11: 3.31%
• Australia — 3rd of 11: 1.82%
• Korea, Rep. — 4th of 11: 0.97%
• Portugal — 5th of 11: 0.76%

What this measures

The percentage of population ages 25 and over that attained or completed Doctoral or equivalent.

Limitations: Caution is required when using this indicator for cross-country comparison, since the countries do not always classify degrees and qualifications at the same International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) levels, even if they are received at roughly the same age or after a similar number of years of schooling. Also, certain educational programmes and study courses cannot be easily classified according to ISCED. This indicator only measures educational attainment in terms of level of education attained, i.e. years of schooling, and does not necessarily reveal the quality of the education (learning achievement and other impacts).

All 31 values

More education data for United States

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 12 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) — 79.36% (2022)
• School enrollment, tertiary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.32 (2022)
• School enrollment, tertiary, female (% gross) — 94.85% (2022)
• School enrollment, tertiary, male (% gross) — 64.54% (2022)
• Educational attainment, at least completed lower secondary, population 25+, total (%) (cumulative)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is United States's educational attainment, Doctoral or equivalent, population 25+, total (%) (cumulative)?

2.3% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.TER.CUAT.DO.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API. Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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