EPIGraph – Distribution of people age 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher (2001 – 2021)

Data from the US Census Bureau illustrate the percentage of adults aged 25 or older who earned a bachelor's degree or higher between 2001 and 2021.

Overall, 37.2 percent of adults earned a BA or higher in 2021, 11.7 percent higher than 20 years earlier (2001). This represents an 80 percent increase in the number of people who earned a BA or higher during this two-decade period. The percent of adults who earned a BA increased from 17.1 percent (2001) to 23.1 (2021).

These data suggest that a larger portion of Americans are seeking and earning higher credentials over time, which is due to a few factors. First, it is likely that people understand the value of a higher degree and thus want to take advantage of the leverage associated with a credential. Also, it is possible that the workforce is requiring, if not demanding, a higher credential from which people then enter and complete higher education to meet this anticipating need. This can be problematic, as it suggests—to a degree—that credential inflation (just like grade inflation) is putting pressure on people to spend more time and money to meet a need created by society which may not be justified. It also keeps pushing the boundaries of equity and access further down the road, such that those on the lower rungs of the educational opportunity ladder keep being pushed back rather than vaulted forward.