"The Condition of Education 2014"

The 42 indicators presented in The Condition of Education 2014 provide a progress report on education in America and include findings on the demographics of American schools, U.S. resources for schooling, and outcomes associated with education.

Report findings include:

•    As of 2013, about 90 percent of young adults ages 25 to 29 had a high school diploma or its equivalent and 34 percent had a bachelor’s or higher degree. Annual median earnings in 2012 were higher for those with higher levels of education, as in previous years. For example, 25- to 34-year-olds with a bachelor’s degree earned more than twice as much as high school dropouts.

•    In 2012, almost two-thirds of 3- to 5-year-olds were enrolled in preschool, and 60 percent of these children attended full-day programs. At the elementary and secondary level, there were nearly 50 million public school students in 2011, with over 2 million attending charter schools. Postsecondary enrollment in 2012 was at 21 million students, including 18 million undergraduate and 3 million graduate students.

•    One in five school-age children lived in poverty in 2012, a number that was closer to one in seven in 2000. In 2011–12, some 3.1 million public high school students, or 81 percent, graduated on time with a regular diploma.

•    In postsecondary education, about 56 percent of male students and 61 percent of female students who began their bachelor degree in the fall of 2006, and did not transfer, had completed their degree by 2012. In that year, over 1 million associate’s degrees, 1.8 million bachelor’s degrees, and more than 750,000 master’s degrees were awarded.