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Why We Ask Questions About...
Educational Attainment, Undergraduate Field of Degree

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American Community Survey (ACS)
Within About the ACS
graphical representation of house in a community with educational attainment highlighted

We ask questions about the highest level of education a person has completed and the field of any completed undergraduate college degrees to create statistics about education.

Local, state, tribal, and federal agencies use education data to measure changes in education over time, evaluate the educational attainment of the workforce, and understand the continuing education needs of adults.

Your privacy concerns

We use your confidential survey answers to create statistics like those in the results below and in the full tables that contain all the data—no one is able to figure out your survey answers from the statistics we produce. The Census Bureau is legally bound to strict confidentiality requirements. Individual records are not shared with anyone, including federal agencies and law enforcement entities. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' answers with anyone—not the IRS, not the FBI, not the CIA, and not with any other government agency.

Questions as they appear on the form

We ask two questions that cover highest degree or level of school completed and field of any Bachelor's degree to understand educational needs.

Results from these questions

We compile the results from these questions to provide communities with important statistics to understand the educational needs of children and adults, as well as ensure equal opportunity. You can see some of these published statistics here for the nation, states, and your community.

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Educational attainment, undergraduate field of degree data help communities:

Educate Children and Adults

We ask about educational attainment to help schools understand the needs of adult students who do not have a high school diploma or equivalent and qualify for grants that help fund programs for these students (Workforce Investment Act).

We ask about undergraduate field of degree because knowing the major fields of study of adults with bachelor's degrees enables efforts to develop the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics labor force (America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010).

Ensure Equal Opportunity

We want to know about the educational attainment of workers compared to those seeking employment in combination with age, gender, race, Hispanic origin, disability status, and other data, to help enforce nondiscrimination in employment by federal agencies, private employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations (Civil Rights Act of 1964). This information is also used in targeting voting rights enforcement (Voting Rights Act).

Infographic: Educational Attainment for Selected Detailed Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Groups

Click the image to view the infographic.

Educational Attainment for Selected Detailed Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Groups

[Source: 2017-2021 Selected Population Tables, American Community Survey, 5-year estimates]

History of educational attainment, undergraduate field of degree questions

Educational attainment originated with the 1940 Census. It was transferred to the ACS in 2005 when it replaced the decennial census long form. Undergraduate field of degree was added in 2009.

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