Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in United States
United States: Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates was 97.0% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in United States, 1971–2022
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
United States recorded 97.0% for primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in 2022.
That represents a change of down 1.4% on the previous year and down 2.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in United States peaked at 104.1% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 88.7%, in 1971.
United States ranks 145th of 217 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 91.2% | 88.7% | 92.3% | 9 |
| 1980s | 102.3% | 100.4% | 103.8% | 8 |
| 1990s | 103.0% | 102.1% | 104.1% | 8 |
| 2000s | 101.9% | 101.9% | 101.9% | 1 |
| 2010s | 100.7% | 99.5% | 101.8% | 7 |
| 2020s | 98.5% | 97.0% | 100.3% | 3 |
Countries ranked near United States
More education data for United States
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.1% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.5% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 97.0% (2022)
- Primary education, teachers 1.78 million (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.62 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 97.0% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in United States?
- Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates in United States was 97.0% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 104.1% in 1990.
- What is the lowest primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 88.7% in 1971.
- How does United States rank for primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates?
- United States ranks 145th out of 217 countries with data for 2022.
- Is primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.5%. 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 (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Primary, secondary and tertiary education enrollment and completion rates. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of children of any age group who are enrolled in primary education, expressed as a percentage of the total population of the official primary school age.