EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, JUNE 29, 1998 (MONDAY) Public Information Office CB98-108 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) Jennifer Day 301-457-2464 Young Adults Boost Asian College-Completion Levels, Census Bureau Reports One-half of Asian and Pacific Islander adults ages 25 to 29 had attained a bachelor's degree or higher in 1997, contributing to that population's high percentage of college graduates, 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. Comparatively, almost 1 in 3 Whites (29 percent), 1 in 7 African Americans (14 percent), and just over 1 in 10 Hispanics (11 percent) in the 25- to 29-year-old age group had bachelor's degrees. "The educational attainment of young adults (ages 25 to 29) is a major factor in the high educational attainment of Asians and Pacific Islanders," said Jennifer Day, author of the report. The report shows that of all persons ages 25 and over, Asian and Pacific Islanders have the greatest proportion of college graduates of any group. Asians and Pacific Islanders were at 42 percent, compared with 25 percent for Whites, 13 percent for African Americans, and 10 percent for Hispanics. 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. The proportion of the Hispanic population ages 25 and over with a high school degree or higher increased from 51 percent in 1987 to 55 percent in 1997. 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.-X-Editor's Note: The Public Information Office now has a media-access server for 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's Internet address is http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. We would appreciate any comments you may have about the 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.
