Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in United States of America
United States of America: Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from was 7.2% in 2016. ▲ Rising
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in United States of America, 1999–2016
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2016, percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in United States of America stood at 7.2%. That is the highest value across all 16 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.9% on the previous year and up 37.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in United States of America peaked at 7.2% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 5.1%, in 2005.
United States of America ranks 19th of 97 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in United States of America, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 6.0% | — |
| 2000 | 5.5% | -7.9% |
| 2001 | 5.3% | -4.3% |
| 2002 | 5.2% | -2.2% |
| 2005 | 5.1% | -1.5% |
| 2006 | 5.2% | +3.0% |
| 2007 | 5.4% | +3.6% |
| 2008 | 5.3% | -1.5% |
| 2009 | 5.3% | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 5.4% | +2.1% |
| 2011 | 5.4% | -0.9% |
| 2012 | 5.5% | +2.3% |
| 2013 | 5.4% | -1.8% |
| 2014 | 5.6% | +3.4% |
| 2015 | 7.0% | +25.5% |
| 2016 | 7.2% | +2.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 6.0% | 6.0% | 6.0% | 1 |
| 2000s | 5.3% | 5.1% | 5.5% | 8 |
| 2010s | 5.9% | 5.4% | 7.2% | 7 |
Countries ranked near United States of America
- 16 Puerto Rico 7.9% compare
- 17 Italy 7.6% compare
- 18 South Africa 7.3%
- 20 Samoa 7.0% compare
- 21 Switzerland 6.9% compare
- 22 Armenia 6.6% compare
More education data for United States of America
- 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)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0708 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in United States of America?
- Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from in United States of America was 7.2% in 2016, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from recorded in United States of America?
- The highest recorded value was 7.2% in 2016.
- What is the lowest percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from recorded in United States of America?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.1% in 2005.
- How does United States of America rank for percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from?
- United States of America ranks 19th out of 97 countries with data for 2016.
- Is percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from rising or falling in United States of America?
- Over the last ten years it is up 37.8%. 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 Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics programmes, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Share of all tertiary graduates who completed Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics programmes in the reference year.