Educational attainment rate, completed … native NPIA Bachelor in United States
United States: Educational attainment rate, completed … native NPIA Bachelor was 0.9609 NPIA in 2024. ▼ Falling
Latest (2024)
0.9609 NPIA
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
22nd
of 33 countries
All-time high
1.05 NPIA
in 2001
All-time low
0.9485 NPIA
in 2011
Years of data
31
1994–2024
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in United States, 1994–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in NPIA.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in United States stood at 0.9609 NPIA.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.1% on the previous year and down 1.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in United States peaked at 1.05 NPIA in 2001 and was at its lowest, 0.9485 NPIA, in 2011.
That places United States 22nd out of 33 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 31 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed … native NPIA Bachelor in United States, year by year
| Year | NPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 1.04 NPIA | — |
| 1995 | 0.9797 NPIA | -5.7% |
| 1996 | 1.02 NPIA | +3.9% |
| 1997 | 1.03 NPIA | +1.6% |
| 1998 | 1.03 NPIA | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 1.03 NPIA | +0.1% |
| 2000 | 1.04 NPIA | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 1.05 NPIA | +1.5% |
| 2002 | 1.04 NPIA | -1.4% |
| 2003 | 1.02 NPIA | -2.0% |
| 2004 | 1.01 NPIA | -0.8% |
| 2005 | 1.01 NPIA | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 1.01 NPIA | -0.2% |
| 2007 | 0.9828 NPIA | -2.7% |
| 2008 | 0.9809 NPIA | -0.2% |
| 2009 | 0.9741 NPIA | -0.7% |
| 2010 | 0.9586 NPIA | -1.6% |
| 2011 | 0.9485 NPIA | -1.1% |
| 2012 | 0.9701 NPIA | +2.3% |
| 2013 | 0.9746 NPIA | +0.5% |
| 2014 | 0.9796 NPIA | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 0.9689 NPIA | -1.1% |
| 2016 | 0.9773 NPIA | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 0.9782 NPIA | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 0.9673 NPIA | -1.1% |
| 2019 | 0.9873 NPIA | +2.1% |
| 2020 | 0.98 NPIA | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 0.9667 NPIA | -1.4% |
| 2022 | 0.9673 NPIA | +0.1% |
| 2023 | 0.9615 NPIA | -0.6% |
| 2024 | 0.9609 NPIA | -0.1% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 0.9609 NPIA is below the median for high income countries, which is 1.03 NPIA, 93% of the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.02 NPIA | 0.9797 NPIA | 1.04 NPIA | 6 |
| 2000s | 1.01 NPIA | 0.9741 NPIA | 1.05 NPIA | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.971 NPIA | 0.9485 NPIA | 0.9873 NPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9673 NPIA | 0.9609 NPIA | 0.98 NPIA | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More education data for United States
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 96.21 (2022)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 96.02 (2022)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 1.74 million (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 419,732 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 4.34 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 4.14 million (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 25.35 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 23.83 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.33 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in United States?
- Educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in United States was 0.9609 NPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 1.05 NPIA in 2001.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9485 NPIA in 2011.
- How does United States rank for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent?
- United States ranks 22nd out of 33 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent education or higher, population 25+ years, adjusted native parity index (NPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release