Educational attainment rate … tertiary short-cycle location in United States
United States: Educational attainment rate … tertiary short-cycle location was 0.6936 LPIA in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
0.6936 LPIA
Change on year
up 3.1%
World rank
14th
of 91 countries
All-time high
0.6946 LPIA
in 2021
All-time low
0.547 LPIA
in 1970
Years of data
21
1970–2023
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States, 1970–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in LPIA.
Analysis
United States recorded 0.6936 LPIA for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in 2023.
The figure is up 3.1% on the previous year and up 8.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States peaked at 0.6946 LPIA in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.547 LPIA, in 1970.
That places United States 14th out of 91 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate … tertiary short-cycle location in United States, year by year
| Year | LPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.547 LPIA | — |
| 2004 | 0.5576 LPIA | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 0.6513 LPIA | +16.8% |
| 2006 | 0.632 LPIA | -3.0% |
| 2007 | 0.6603 LPIA | +4.5% |
| 2008 | 0.6596 LPIA | -0.1% |
| 2009 | 0.6548 LPIA | -0.7% |
| 2010 | 0.6519 LPIA | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 0.6727 LPIA | +3.2% |
| 2012 | 0.6501 LPIA | -3.4% |
| 2013 | 0.6423 LPIA | -1.2% |
| 2014 | 0.6731 LPIA | +4.8% |
| 2015 | 0.6813 LPIA | +1.2% |
| 2016 | 0.6683 LPIA | -1.9% |
| 2017 | 0.6821 LPIA | +2.1% |
| 2018 | 0.6753 LPIA | -1.0% |
| 2019 | 0.6891 LPIA | +2.0% |
| 2020 | 0.6748 LPIA | -2.1% |
| 2021 | 0.6946 LPIA | +2.9% |
| 2022 | 0.6726 LPIA | -3.2% |
| 2023 | 0.6936 LPIA | +3.1% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 0.6936 LPIA is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.592 LPIA, 1.2× the median. (41 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.547 LPIA | 0.547 LPIA | 0.547 LPIA | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.6359 LPIA | 0.5576 LPIA | 0.6603 LPIA | 6 |
| 2010s | 0.6686 LPIA | 0.6423 LPIA | 0.6891 LPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6839 LPIA | 0.6726 LPIA | 0.6946 LPIA | 4 |
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 short-cycle tertiary education in United States?
- Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States was 0.6936 LPIA in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 0.6946 LPIA in 2021.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.547 LPIA in 1970.
- How does United States rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- United States ranks 14th out of 91 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education or higher, population 25+ years, male, adjusted location parity index (LPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release