Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States of America
United States of America: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 39.1% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States of America, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
United States of America recorded 39.1% for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in 2024. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.
That represents a change of up 3.6% on the previous year and up 25.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States of America peaked at 39.1% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 14.7%, in 1970.
That places United States of America 7th out of 95 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States of America, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 14.7% | — |
| 2004 | 25.7% | +74.4% |
| 2005 | 26.9% | +4.7% |
| 2006 | 26.5% | -1.6% |
| 2007 | 28.3% | +6.8% |
| 2008 | 28.1% | -0.4% |
| 2009 | 28.5% | +1.5% |
| 2010 | 28.3% | -1.0% |
| 2011 | 29.6% | +4.6% |
| 2012 | 29.8% | +0.7% |
| 2013 | 30.0% | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 31.2% | +4.0% |
| 2015 | 32.0% | +2.6% |
| 2016 | 32.7% | +2.3% |
| 2017 | 34.2% | +4.7% |
| 2018 | 33.8% | -1.4% |
| 2019 | 35.7% | +5.9% |
| 2020 | 36.1% | +1.1% |
| 2021 | 37.0% | +2.4% |
| 2022 | 36.1% | -2.5% |
| 2023 | 37.7% | +4.7% |
| 2024 | 39.1% | +3.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 14.7% | 14.7% | 14.7% | 1 |
| 2000s | 27.3% | 25.7% | 28.5% | 6 |
| 2010s | 31.7% | 28.3% | 35.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 37.2% | 36.1% | 39.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States of America
More education data for United States of America
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 1.78 million (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 96.97 (2022)
- School enrollment, primary 97.0% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States of America?
- Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in United States of America was 39.1% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in United States of America?
- The highest recorded value was 39.1% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in United States of America?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.7% in 1970.
- How does United States of America rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- United States of America ranks 7th out of 95 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education rising or falling in United States of America?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States of America 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, rural, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release