The 1850 Census reported that the United States was home to 239 colleges with 27,821 students. In 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau's County Business Patterns series reported that there were 3,989 establishments in the Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools sector (NAICS 611310). That year, the National Center for Education Statistics estimated that 15.9 million undergraduates were enrolled in the nation's colleges and universities.

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The education data the U.S. marshals collected during the 1840 Census were alarming. Approximately 22 percent of the White population 20 years and older could not read and write. This was especially concerning as the nation industrialized and the demand for literate, skilled workers grew rapidly. Following subsequent censuses, the Census Bureau published increasingly detailed school attendance and literacy data along with statistics about public and private schools, the number of teachers and students at each, and their funding sources. By 1890, census publications included detailed statistics about literacy (by race, sex, age, and nativity); school attendance (by age, sex, and region); types of schools, enrollment, and financing; and the ability to speak English. During the 40-year period between 1850 and 1890, literacy rates made substantial gains. Whereas the 1850 Census reported that approximately 10 percent of the White and 41 percent of the Free Colored population were illiterate, the 1890 Census found that more than 90 percent of the nation's total population 10 years and over could read and write. The 1890 Census also reported that 881,246 gainfully employed people 10 years and older could not speak English. As European immigration to the United States surged, the foreign-born population that could not speak English grew from 1,338,204 in 1900 to 3,091,207 in 1910.

The 1930 Census was the last to collect data about illiteracy. Illiteracy fell from approximately 20 percent of the total population 10 years and older in 1870 to 10.7 percent in 1900, and 4.3 percent in 1930. Starting in 1940, as literacy became nearly universal, the Census Bureau shifted its focus from basic reading ability to measuring higher levels of educational attainment, particularly high school and college completion. That year, 24.5 percent of Americans 25 years and older had a high school diploma. Between 1950 and 2000, the percentage of Americans 25 years and older with a high school diploma rose from 34.3 to 80.4 percent. 

Census data also illustrate how interest in higher education grew following passage of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 ("G.I. Bill"), increased federal funding, and demand for skilled labor. In recent decades, the Census Bureau has refined how higher education is measured, shifting from years of schooling to degree attainment categories such as associate’s, bachelor’s, and advanced professional degrees. Between 1950 and 2000, the percentage of the United States population 25 years and older with a bachelor's degree or higher rose from 6.2 percent to 24.4 percent. The increase reflects the importance of higher education as the nation's economy moved from industrial "blue collar" jobs to one that increasingly consisted of knowledge-based, "white collar" occupations. 

Following the 2000 Census, the Census Bureau started collecting the estimates of educational attainment through the American Community Survey (ACS). In 2010, 85.6 percent of the population 25 years and over had a high school diploma or higher, and 28.5 percent had a bachelor's degree or higher. In 2020, 88.5 percent of Americans 25 years and over had a high school diploma or higher and those with bachelor's degrees or higher rose to 32.9 percent. Recent ACS data from 2024 estimate that 89.6 percent of Americans were high school graduates or higher and 35.7 percent held a bachelor's degree or higher. 

The Current Population Survey (CPS) sponsored by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics also collects education data, including educational attainment since 1940. Between 1940 and 2024, the number of people 25 years and over with four or more years of college rose from approximately 3.4 million to nearly 88.9 million. In 1940, 5.5 percent of men and 3.8 percent of women 25 years and older had a bachelor's degree. By 2024, 40.1 percent of women and 37.1 percent of men 25 years and older had bachelor's degrees or higher. The CPS data also highlight the impact that higher education has on workers' mean earnings. In 2023, workers 18 years and older who did not have a high school diploma reported mean earnings of $35,720; high school graduates earned $46,720; and people reporting some college or an associate's degree earned $54,000. Median earnings rose dramatically for people earning a bachelor's degree or higher. In 2023, people earning a bachelor's degree had median earnings of $86,970, while those with advanced degrees earned $118,900. These differences highlight the economic advantages associated with higher education and underscore its role in increasing lifetime earnings and financial stability.

In addition to the 1840 through 2000 censuses, ACS, and CPS, several Census Bureau governments and economic censuses and surveys collect data about schools, education financing, school employment, etc. For example, the economic census and economic surveys collect data from establishments in the Education Services sector (NAICS 61). The sector includes: Elementary and Secondary Schools (NAICS 6111); Junior Colleges (NAICS 6112); Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (NAICS 6113); Business Schools & Computer/Management Training (NAICS 6114); Technical and Trade Schools (NAICS 6115); Other Schools and Instruction (NAICS 6116); and Educational Support Services (NAICS 6117). The Census of Governments collects data about public school financing, employment, and payroll every 5 years. The annual Survey of School System Finances collects education finance data including revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets (cash and security holdings) of elementary and secondary public school systems.

The Census Bureau also conducts reimbursable surveys that collect data for other government agencies. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) sponsors the National Teacher and Principal Survey, Principal Follow-Up Survey, Private School Universe Survey, School Pulse Panel, and Teacher Follow-Up Survey. The U.S. National Science Foundation sponsors surveys like the biennial National Survey of College Graduates and the National Training, Education, and Workforce Survey.

The education data collected by the Census Bureau provide a comprehensive record of the nation's transition from its focus on basic literacy to an emphasis on higher education and workforce readiness. As higher education continues to play a central role in economic mobility and national growth, the importance of accurate, detailed Census Bureau data will continue to increase. Additional information about the evolution and importance of education data is available through Census Bureau publications and publicly accessible datasets. For example:

• The census first collected education data in 1840. That year, the U.S. marshals and their assistants conducting the census asked the White population 20 years and older if they could read or write, finding that 22 percent were illiterate. They also collected data about the number of colleges, universities, primary schools, and grammar schools in their assigned areas; the number of students at each institution; and the total number of scholars at public charge.
• The 1850 Census collected data on the nation's educational institutions, finding 239 colleges with 27,821 students; 80,978 public schools with 3,354,011 students; and 6,085 private schools and academies with 263,096 students. In 1850, 2,146,432 White males and 1,916,614 White females attended school, while just 13,864 "Free Colored" males and 12,597 "Free Colored" females reported attending school that year. Southern slave states like Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia reported fewer than 100 "Free Colored" students in 1850. Among people 20 years and older, 962,898 White and 90,522 "Free Colored" people could not read and write.
• The Census Bureau first collected data about educational attainment in 1940. Among the 77.8 million Americans 25 years and older, 2.8 million had not attended school; nearly 35.9 million completed 8th grade; 10.5 million completed high school; and nearly 7.5 million completed 1 or more years of college. Among the nation's 6.5 million Black men and women 25 years and older, 646,229 reported no formal education; approximately 1.3 million completed 8th grade; 268,484 completed high school; and 199,122 completed 1 or more years of college. The Census Bureau published additional educational attainment and sample data tabulations in several reports including: Educational Attainment of Children by Rental Value of Home; Educational Attainment by Economic Characteristics and Marital Status; and Education, Occupation, and Household Relationship of Males 18 to 44 Years Old.
• Six years after the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision desegregated schools, the 1960 Census found that 97 percent of the nation's 3,763,972 children age 7 were enrolled in school, including 97.3 percent of the nation's 3,244,771 White and 95 percent of its 479,880 Black children. Of the 2,747,141 14-year-olds counted in 1960, 95.8 percent of the nation's 2,394,166 White and 92 percent of its 326,502 Black children were enrolled in school. Among the 2,169,874 17-year-olds who were enrolled in school, 1,946,469 (76.8 percent) White and 204,387 Black (65.9 percent) children attended school.
• In 2024, the Census Bureau estimated that of the 31,270,959 Americans aged 18 to 24, 11,667,747 were high school graduates (including equivalency); 11,683,751 had some college or an associate's degree; and 4,286,962 had a bachelor's degree or higher. For the population 25 years and over, 60,698,932 had received their high school diplomas (or equivalency); 20,848,519 had associate's degrees; 52,233,014 had bachelor's degrees; and 34,699,683 had graduate or professional degrees.
• Data collected by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey found that science and engineering are the most popular first majors for the nation's undergraduates. In 2024, 31,665,442 people reported that they earned a bachelor's degree or higher in science and engineering, followed by 19,851,640 in arts, humanities, and others, 17,443,889 in business, 9,078,290 in education, and 8,893,436 in science- and engineering-related fields.
• The number of 20- to 24-year-olds enrolled in school has grown considerably since 1930. In 1930, just 801,297 (7.4 percent) of the nation's 10,870,378 people aged 20 to 24 were enrolled in school. By 1950, 1,480,745 (12.9 percent) of 11,440,095 20- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in school. More recently, the Census Bureau estimated that of the 22,232,555 people in this age group, 8,526,371 (38.4 percent) were enrolled in school.
• In 2023, the Census Bureau County Business Patterns series reported that there were 3,989 establishments in the Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools sector (NAICS 611310). During the pay period that included March 12, 2023, these schools employed 1,862,528 people. California led the nation with 540 colleges, universities, and professional schools, followed by Florida (310), and New York (281).
• Of 239,910,719 people 25 years and older in the United States in 2024, 57,973,323 people who were White alone, 7,390,225 Black alone, 379,326 American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 9,175,707 Asian alone, 81,351 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, 2,704,593 Some Other Race alone, and 7,523,039 reporting two or more races had a bachelor's degree or higher. Of the 40,532,279 Americans who identified as being of Hispanic origin, 8,709,635 had bachelor's degrees or higher.
• Established in 1802, the United States Military Academy at West Point in Orange County, New York, is the oldest military service academy in the nation. Four additional military service academies followed: the United States Naval Academy (1845); Coast Guard Academy (1876); Merchant Marine Academy (1943); and Air Force Academy (1954). Combined enrollment of the five academies is approximately 18,000 to 19,000 cadets or midshipmen. Learn more at our History and the Census: Military Service Academies webpage.
• Cheyney University in Chester County, Pennsylvania, is the first and oldest of our nation's historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 2022, more than 300,000 undergraduate and graduate students attended HBCUs. Learn more at our History and the Census: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) webpage.

The place where most people in the United States live is called a housing unit. For most people, the housing unit may be a house, an apartment, or a mobile home. However, not everyone lives in this type of housing. 

Group quarters differ from typical household living arrangements because the people living in them are usually not related to one another. Group quarters can include college residence halls, residential treatment centers, skilled nursing facilities, group homes, military barracks, prisons, or worker dormitories. 

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey provides estimates of the nation's group quarters population. In 2024, the total group quarters population was 8,388,561, including 3,003,971 people living in college and university housing. Of this number, 96.2 percent were aged 18 to 24 years. The majority of students living in group quarters were female (56 percent), White alone (69.5 percent), and never married (99.1 percent).