Estimates are based on surveys of the non-institutionalized civilian population, so people living in prisons or serving in the military are not included.

The question for education attainment in the Current Population Survey changed in 1992. Before 1992, respondents were asked how many years of schooling they had completed. Starting in 1992, respondents were asked the highest degree they had completed. Those who report having a Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate degree, or Professional degree are coded as having completed four years of college or more.

Time series by race that include data from both before and after 2002 should be interpreted with care. More details on the changes in racial categories.

This measure refers to enrollment in nursery schools, kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools, colleges, universities, and professional schools. It includes both full-time and part-time students, and attendance can be during the day or night. Enrollment in special schools such as trade schools, business colleges, or correspondence schools is not included.

The NCES’s estimates are based on the Current Population Survey.

Prior to 1972, the “White” and “Black” racial categories include people of Hispanic ethnicity.  Beginning in 2003, the categories “White” and “Black” exclude people who identify as belonging to two or more races. Time series by race that include data from both before and after 2002 should be interpreted with care. More details on the changes in racial categories.

The NAEP reading scores indicate the following:

200       Ability to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information.

250       Ability to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials.

300       Ability to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material.

Additional race/ethnic groups are included in the totals but not shown separately.

The NAEP reading scores indicate the following:

200       Ability to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information.

250       Ability to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials.

300       Ability to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material.

Additional race/ethnic groups are included in the totals but not shown separately.

The NAEP math scores indicate the following:

200       Considerable understanding of two-digit numbers and some basic multiplication and division facts.

250       Initial understanding of the four basic operations and a developing ability to analyze simple logical relations.

300       Ability to perform reasoning and problem solving involving fractions, decimals, percents, elementary geometry, and simple algebra.

Additional race/ethnic groups are included in the totals but not shown separately.

High school credentials include high school diplomas and equivalent credentials, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.

Estimates are based on surveys of the non-institutionalized civilian population, so people living in prisons or serving in the military are not included.

Time series by race that include data from both before and after 2002 should be interpreted with care. More details on the changes in racial categories.

The Monitoring the Future survey is administered to high school seniors in the spring of each year. Data collection takes place in approximately 130 public and private high schools selected to provide an accurate cross-section of high school seniors throughout the coterminous United States.

Students are asked:  “How likely is it that you will do each of the following things after high school?” For each of “Attend a technical or vocational school,” “Serve in the armed forces,” “Graduate from a two-year college program,” “Graduate from college (four-year program),” and “Attend graduate or professional school after college,” they are asked to choose among “Definitely won’t,” “Probably won’t,” “Probably will,” or “Definitely will.”

For more detailed information about the survey design and sampling procedures, see the introduction of the 2009 Monitoring the Future volume.

The Monitoring the Future survey is administered to high school seniors in the spring of each year. Data collection takes place in approximately 130 public and private high schools selected to provide an accurate cross-section of high school seniors throughout the coterminous United States.

Students are asked:  “How likely is it that you will do each of the following things after high school?” For each of “Attend a technical or vocational school,” “Serve in the armed forces,” “Graduate from a two-year college program,” “Graduate from college (four-year program),” and “Attend graduate or professional school after college,” they are asked to choose among “Definitely won’t,” “Probably won’t,” “Probably will,” or “Definitely will.”

For more detailed information about the survey design and sampling procedures, see the introduction of the 2009 Monitoring the Future volume.

The four-year graduation rate for a given year is the rate for students starting their Bachelor’s degree studies four years earlier. For example, the rate for 2010 is for the cohort of students that started their studies in 2006.  Students who complete their degrees at different institutions than where they started are not counted as graduating.

Data correspond to four-year degree-granting postsecondary institutions participating in the Title IV federal financial aid programs.

In 2007 and 2009, the Current Population Survey did not ask about computer ownership. The estimates provided for those years are based on the ratio of computer ownership to Internet access in 2003 and 2010, and were computed by the Census Bureau.

The Current Population Survey defines a household as all the people who occupy a housing unit.  A house, apartment, a single room, or a group of rooms is regarded as a housing unit when it is occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters; that is, when the occupants do not live with any other persons in the structure and there is direct access from the outside or through a common hall.

The Current Population Survey defines a household as all the people who occupy a housing unit.  A house, apartment, a single room, or a group of rooms is regarded as a housing unit when it is occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters; that is, when the occupants do not live with any other persons in the structure and there is direct access from the outside or through a common hall.

Time series by race that include data from both before and after 2002 should be interpreted with care. More details on the changes in racial categories.

Data come from telephone interviews of a national sample of adults age 18 and older. The exact question wording is, “Students are often given the grades A, B, C, D, and FAIL to denote the quality of their work. Suppose the public schools themselves in your community were graded in the same way. What grade would you give the public schools here—A, B, C, D, or FAIL?”