EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, JUNE 29, 1998 (MONDAY) Public Information Office CB98-105 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) Jennifer Day 301-457-2464 Young Women Surpass Young Men In Educational Attainment, Census Bureau Reports In 1997, the educational attainment levels of women ages 25 to 29 exceeded those of men in the same age group, according to a report released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The embargoed tabulations used in the report can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/ dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. After the release time, go to http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/educ-attn.html. At the high-school completion level, 89 percent of the young women and 86 percent of the young men had diplomas in 1997. Young women also led at the college completion level, 29 percent to 26 percent. "The educational attainment of these young adults indicates a dramatic improvement by women, who historically have been less educated," said Jennifer Day, author of the report. For the total population ages 25 and over, high-school completion rates for men and women were not statistically different (82 percent). Men still have an overall edge in college completion, 26 percent to 22 percent. The report, Educational Attainment in the United States: March 1997, P20-505, makes these other points: - The gap in high-school completion between African Americans and Whites narrowed in the 25- to 29-year-old age group over the past decade to the point where there was no statistical difference in 1997. - Alaska and Wyoming were the only states with high-school graduation rates that exceeded 90 percent. - About 1 in 3 residents of the District of Columbia, Massachusetts and Maryland had a bachelor's degree or higher in 1997. - Regionally, high-school completion levels were highest in the Midwest (85 percent) and lowest in the South (79 percent). - The Northeast (27 percent) and West (26 percent) had the highest proportions of their populations with bachelor's degrees or higher; these percentages were not statistically different from each other. - More than 1 in 5 (24 percent) of all adults had attained at least a bachelor's degree in 1997. Average earnings in 1996 for persons ages 18 and over by educational attainment were: No High School High School Bachelor's Advanced Degree Degree Degree Degree $15,011 $22,154 $38,112 $61,317 The data are from the March 1997 Current Population Survey. As in all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Editor's Note: The Public Information Office now has a media-access server for displaying embargoed news releases and data sets. It is available to accredited media representatives only. To gain access, please contact us for a username and password. The media-access server Internet address is: http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. We would appreciate your comments about this site. The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
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