About 38.6% of U.S. adults age 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, based on 2024 Census Bureau data. That translates to roughly 86 million people. If you include associate’s degrees and other postsecondary credentials, the share climbs to about half the adult population. These numbers have been rising steadily for decades, but the picture looks very different depending on age, gender, and where you look globally.
Bachelor’s Degree Holders in 2024
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 2024, 40.1% of women and 37.1% of men age 25 and older had earned at least a bachelor’s degree. That gender gap is relatively new in historical terms. Women have been outpacing men in degree completion for roughly two decades, and the margin continues to widen.
When you look at all postsecondary credentials together, including associate’s degrees, vocational certificates, and graduate degrees, the OECD pegged the U.S. rate at 50% of adults ages 25 to 64 as of 2022. That means about one in two working-age Americans holds some type of college credential.
Degree Rates by Age Group
Younger adults are significantly more likely to hold a bachelor’s degree than older Americans. In 2024, 42.8% of people ages 25 to 39 had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 41.5% of those ages 40 to 54 and 34.2% of those 55 and older. The gap between the youngest and oldest groups, nearly nine percentage points, reflects the massive expansion of college enrollment over the past several decades.
This trend shows no signs of reversing. Each generation has finished college at higher rates than the one before it, driven by a combination of greater access to financial aid, more online and nontraditional programs, and a labor market that increasingly rewards credentials.
How Many Degrees Are Awarded Each Year
U.S. colleges and universities conferred roughly 3.85 million degrees in the 2021-22 academic year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That breaks down to about 990,000 associate’s degrees, 1.92 million bachelor’s degrees, 764,000 master’s degrees, and 179,000 doctoral degrees.
Women earned the majority at every level. They received about 63% of associate’s degrees, 59% of bachelor’s degrees, 65% of master’s degrees, and 59% of doctoral degrees. The imbalance is especially pronounced in graduate programs, where women now outnumber men by wide margins.
Degree Attainment by Race and Ethnicity
The racial and ethnic composition of degree recipients has shifted substantially over the past two decades, though gaps remain. Among bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2021-22, white students earned 58.8%, Hispanic students earned 17.0%, Black students earned 10.4%, and Asian students earned 8.9%. For context, those shares roughly track the college-age population, though Hispanic and Black students remain somewhat underrepresented relative to their share of the overall U.S. population.
At the doctoral level, the picture narrows further. White students earned 63.1% of doctoral degrees, Asian students 12.6%, Black students 10.4%, and Hispanic students 9.9%. Graduate programs have been diversifying, but the pipeline from bachelor’s to advanced degrees still filters out a disproportionate share of underrepresented groups.
How the U.S. Compares Globally
The United States ranks above most developed nations in postsecondary attainment but no longer leads the pack. Among the 37 OECD countries with comparable data, 50% of Americans ages 25 to 64 held a postsecondary degree in 2022, higher than 28 of those countries. The OECD average was 41%. Canada topped the list at 63%, while Italy sat at the bottom with 20%.
The U.S. has been gaining ground, moving from 43% in 2012 to 50% in 2022. But other countries have been climbing faster. The OECD-wide average jumped from 32% to 41% over that same decade, a nine-point gain compared to America’s seven points. Countries like South Korea, the United Kingdom, and several Northern European nations have made particularly large strides in expanding access to higher education.
What These Numbers Mean in Practice
Holding a bachelor’s degree still correlates strongly with higher lifetime earnings. Workers with a four-year degree typically earn 60% to 80% more over their careers than those with only a high school diploma. That premium varies by field of study, with engineering, computer science, and business degrees generally commanding the largest wage advantages, while some humanities and arts degrees carry more modest returns.
At the same time, the fact that nearly 40% of adults now hold a bachelor’s degree means it functions less as a distinguishing credential than it did a generation ago. Many employers that once required a four-year degree for entry-level roles have begun dropping that requirement, focusing instead on skills and experience. For job seekers, the practical takeaway is that a degree still opens doors, but it increasingly needs to be paired with relevant skills or experience to stand out in a crowded field.