Fast Facts about College Education

Have you ever wondered what the most popular college major is? Or whether more women earn college degrees than men? This collection of statistics sheds light on the world of higher education.

Higher Education, Higher Wages: Salaries for College Graduates

  • In 2006, working adults with a master's, professional, or doctoral degree earned a mean annual salary of $79,926
  • Adults with a bachelor's degree earned an average annual pay of $54,689
  • Adults who have only earned their high-school diploma earned an average annual pay of just $29,448

Regional Learning: College Education by Area

  • The largest concentration of people with bachelor's degrees or higher is in the District of Columbia, with 45.7%, followed by Massachusetts (36.7%), Colorado (35.5%), and New Hampshire (35.4%)
  • The Northeast region boasts the biggest proportion of college grads (30.9%), closely followed by the West (30.2%), the Midwest (26.0%), and the South (25.5%)
  • There are 1,693 public post-secondary institutions in the United States
  • There are 2,583 private colleges and universities in the United States

Diversity Counts: College Education by Race and Gender

  • While women have a higher high-school graduation rate than men, men hold a higher proportion of bachelor's degrees than women (29.4% for men and 26.1% for women)
  • Regarding bachelor's degrees, women are gaining on men: in 2005, women comprised 56% of the enrolled undergraduate population
  • 49.4% of Asians have their bachelor's degrees or higher, as compared to 30.6% of non-Hispanic whites, 17.6% of African-Americans, and 12.1% of Hispanics
  • The percentage of college-educated, foreign-born American residents is roughly proportionate to that of college-educated, native-born Americans (27.3% and 27.9%, respectively)
  • Asians and Pacific Islanders have the highest graduation rate at 4-year colleges, with 65% earning degrees

Paying for School: Undergraduate Tuition and Financial Aid

  • 11.2 million college students (over 50%) receive some form of financial aid, not including familial assistance
  • In 2003-2004, 83% of undergraduates attending private four-year institutions received some form of financial aid
  • About one-third (35%) of undergraduate students take out student loans
  • Annual tuition at public colleges, including room and board, averages $10,560
  • Annual tuition at private colleges, including room and board, averages $26,889
  • Between the 1995-1996 and 2005-2006 school years, prices for public college tuition, housing, and dining services rose by 30%

Most Popular Undergraduate Majors

  • Business majors earned the most bachelor's degrees in 2004-2005, with 312,000 degrees conferred
  • 157,000 undergraduate degrees were awarded in social sciences and history
  • 105,000 bachelor's degrees were awarded in education

Senior Smarts: Senior Citizens and College

  • 20% of senior citizens ages 65 to 69 have attained a bachelor's degree or higher
  • 19% of seniors ages 70 to 74 have achieved a bachelor's degree or higher
  • 15% of seniors ages 75 and older have earned a bachelor's degree or higher

Advanced Learning: Graduate School

  • 59% of all graduate students are female
  • More than 50% of graduate students attend school part time
  • In 2006, graduate students paid an average of $13,699 in tuition, room, board, and book fees
  • Graduate students attending school full-time received a mean annual financial aid package worth $12,081
  • The most popular master's degree fields are business and education: in the 2004-2005 school year, 167,000 graduate education degrees and 143,000 graduate business degrees were conferred
Sources
"College Degree Nearly Doubles Annual Earnings," US Census Bureau
"Degree-Granting Institutions and Branches, by Type and Control of Institution and State or Jurisdiction: 2005–06," Digest of Education Statistics
"Earnings Gap Highlighted by Census Bureau Data on Educational Attainment," US Census Bureau
"Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2004; Graduation Rates, 1998 & 2001 Cohorts; and Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2004," National Center for Education Statistics
"Fast Facts: College Majors," National Center for Education Statistics
"Fast Facts: Financial Aid," National Center for Education Statistics
"Majority of Undergrads and Grad Students Are Women," US Census Bureau
"More Than 11 Million College Students Receive Financial Aid," US Census Bureau
"Senior Citizen Facts," Senior Journal