Educational attainment rate, completed … native NPIA short-cycle in United States
United States: Educational attainment rate, completed … native NPIA short-cycle was 0.8777 NPIA in 2024. ▼ Falling
Latest (2024)
0.8777 NPIA
Change on year
down 0.4%
World rank
26th
of 32 countries
All-time high
0.9681 NPIA
in 1994
All-time low
0.8743 NPIA
in 2011
Years of data
31
1994–2024
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States, 1994–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in NPIA.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States is 0.8777 NPIA, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of down 0.4% on the previous year and down 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States peaked at 0.9681 NPIA in 1994 and was at its lowest, 0.8743 NPIA, in 2011.
That places United States 26th out of 32 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 31 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed … native NPIA short-cycle in United States, year by year
| Year | NPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 0.9681 NPIA | — |
| 1995 | 0.9168 NPIA | -5.3% |
| 1996 | 0.9492 NPIA | +3.5% |
| 1997 | 0.9532 NPIA | +0.4% |
| 1998 | 0.9508 NPIA | -0.2% |
| 1999 | 0.9537 NPIA | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 0.949 NPIA | -0.5% |
| 2001 | 0.9588 NPIA | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 0.9463 NPIA | -1.3% |
| 2003 | 0.9294 NPIA | -1.8% |
| 2004 | 0.9226 NPIA | -0.7% |
| 2005 | 0.9158 NPIA | -0.7% |
| 2006 | 0.9162 NPIA | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 0.8951 NPIA | -2.3% |
| 2008 | 0.8978 NPIA | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 0.8905 NPIA | -0.8% |
| 2010 | 0.8804 NPIA | -1.1% |
| 2011 | 0.8743 NPIA | -0.7% |
| 2012 | 0.8895 NPIA | +1.7% |
| 2013 | 0.8878 NPIA | -0.2% |
| 2014 | 0.8905 NPIA | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 0.8817 NPIA | -1.0% |
| 2016 | 0.8859 NPIA | +0.5% |
| 2017 | 0.8897 NPIA | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 0.8852 NPIA | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 0.9026 NPIA | +2.0% |
| 2020 | 0.8941 NPIA | -0.9% |
| 2021 | 0.8882 NPIA | -0.7% |
| 2022 | 0.888 NPIA | -0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.8815 NPIA | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 0.8777 NPIA | -0.4% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 0.8777 NPIA is below the median for high income countries, which is 1.06 NPIA, 83% of the median. (29 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.9487 NPIA | 0.9168 NPIA | 0.9681 NPIA | 6 |
| 2000s | 0.9221 NPIA | 0.8905 NPIA | 0.9588 NPIA | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8868 NPIA | 0.8743 NPIA | 0.9026 NPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8859 NPIA | 0.8777 NPIA | 0.8941 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 short-cycle tertiary education in United States?
- Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States was 0.8777 NPIA in 2024, 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 0.9681 NPIA in 1994.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8743 NPIA in 2011.
- How does United States rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- United States ranks 26th out of 32 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.4%. 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 short-cycle tertiary 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