The “level of education” refers to the highest stage of formal schooling you have completed. You will see this question on job applications, government forms, census surveys, and financial documents. The standard levels in the United States run from “less than high school” through doctorate and professional degrees, and each carries a specific meaning that employers and agencies expect you to understand when selecting your answer.
The Standard Education Levels
Most forms and applications in the U.S. use a consistent set of categories. Here is the full progression, from lowest to highest:
- Less than high school: You attended school but did not earn a diploma or equivalent credential.
- High school diploma or equivalent: You graduated from high school or earned a GED (General Equivalency Diploma).
- Technical or occupational certificate: You completed a focused training program in a specific trade or skill area, such as welding, IT certification, or medical coding.
- Some college, no degree: You attended college and may have earned credits, but did not finish a degree program.
- Associate degree: You completed a two-year undergraduate program at an accredited college, earning an AA, AS, or similar degree.
- Bachelor’s degree: You completed a four-year undergraduate program, earning a BA, BS, or similar degree.
- Master’s degree: You completed at least one additional year of graduate study beyond a bachelor’s, earning an MA, MS, MBA, MEd, or similar degree.
- Professional degree: You completed a specialized graduate program such as law (JD), medicine (MD), dentistry (DDS), or veterinary medicine (DVM). These programs typically require a bachelor’s degree for admission and run three to four years.
- Doctorate: You earned the highest academic research degree, such as a PhD or EdD, which generally requires three to four years of study beyond the bachelor’s level.
When a form asks for your “level of education,” pick the highest category you have fully completed. If you are currently enrolled but have not yet graduated, most applications let you note an expected completion date, but your official level remains the last degree you finished.
How the U.S. Education System Is Structured
The American school system follows a rough progression that maps onto these levels. Students typically spend six to eight years in elementary school, sometimes preceded by pre-K or kindergarten. Middle school or junior high covers two to three years, and high school runs through 12th grade, which most students complete by age 18.
After high school, post-secondary education splits into several tracks. Community colleges and technical schools offer two-year associate degrees and certificate programs. Four-year colleges and universities award bachelor’s degrees. Graduate schools offer master’s and doctoral programs, while professional schools train students for fields like medicine, law, and dentistry. Medical school, for example, is a four-year program that follows a four-year pre-med undergraduate degree. Law school is a three-year program after earning a bachelor’s.
Why the Categories Matter on Forms
Employers, government agencies, and lenders use education level as a shorthand for qualifications. On federal job applications through USAJOBS, for instance, you are asked to select your highest academic level and may need to provide transcripts if education is a requirement for the role. Your degree must come from an institution accredited by a body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. If you earned your degree outside the country, you will need documentation proving it is equivalent to an accredited U.S. program.
The U.S. Census Bureau asks a similar question on the American Community Survey: “What is the highest degree or level of school this person has completed?” The Census uses more granular options, breaking out individual grade levels, distinguishing between a regular diploma and a GED, and separating “some college credit but less than one year” from “one or more years of college credit, no degree.” This data feeds into national statistics on educational attainment.
How Education Level Affects Earnings
Each step up in education corresponds to measurably higher pay and lower unemployment risk. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks this relationship using 2024 annual averages for workers age 25 and older:
- Less than a high school diploma: Median weekly earnings of $737, unemployment rate of 5.9%.
- High school diploma: $919 per week, 3.9% unemployment.
- Some college, no degree: $1,025 per week, 3.9% unemployment.
- Associate degree: $1,156 per week, 3.3% unemployment.
- Bachelor’s degree: $1,505 per week, 2.2% unemployment.
- Master’s degree: $1,737 per week, 2.0% unemployment.
- Doctoral or professional degree: $2,239 per week, 1.4% to 1.6% unemployment.
To put that in annual terms, a bachelor’s degree holder earns roughly $78,000 a year at the median, compared to about $48,000 for someone with only a high school diploma. That gap of roughly $30,000 per year compounds over a full career. The pattern holds consistently: more education correlates with higher earnings and greater job stability at every level.
The International Classification System
If you encounter education levels in an international context, such as a visa application or a job posting from a multinational employer, you may see references to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). Maintained by UNESCO, this framework assigns numbered levels from 0 through 8 so that countries with very different school systems can compare credentials on a common scale. Early childhood education is level 0, primary education is level 1, lower secondary (roughly middle school) is level 2, upper secondary (high school) is level 3, post-secondary non-tertiary programs are level 4, short-cycle tertiary (similar to an associate degree) is level 5, bachelor’s or equivalent is level 6, master’s or equivalent is level 7, and doctoral or equivalent is level 8.
For most purposes inside the United States, you will not need to reference ISCED numbers. But if a form or employer asks you to classify your education using this scale, matching your U.S. degree to the corresponding level is straightforward.
How to List Your Education Level
When filling out a job application or building a resume, select the level that matches the highest degree you have actually been awarded. If you completed 90 credits toward a bachelor’s but never graduated, your level is “some college, no degree,” not “bachelor’s degree.” If you hold a professional certification like a CPA or a Cisco networking credential but no college degree, you would list the certificate separately under certifications while selecting your actual highest academic level in the education field.
Listing relevant coursework, licenses, and certifications alongside your degree can strengthen an application, especially when the skills are directly related to the job. Federal job listings in particular encourage applicants to include this information to demonstrate knowledge in a specific field, even when it falls outside a formal degree program.