Black Educational Attainment by The Numbers
Among African Americans age 25 and older, the number who had an advanced degree in 2011 (e.g., master’s, Ph.D., M.D. or J.D.). Fifteen years earlier—in 1995—only 677,000 blacks had this level of education.
3.9 million
Number of black college students in 2011. This was an increase of roughly 2 million from 18 years earlier.
18.7%
Percentage of African Americans age 25 and older who had a bachelor’s degree or more in 2011. In many states, the rate was higher. Just over 22% of blacks this age in Massachusetts, for instance, had this level of education.
As indicated in the chart (2nd chart), 80% of African Americans over age 25 have high school diplomas. The average number of African Americans that have at least a bachelor’s degree increased two percentage point to 19% since the year 2000. This however is still ten percentage points lower than the national average.
*All statistics used above are from the US Census Bureau 2008 – 2011 American Community Survey
