Indicators of Welfare Dependence: Annual Report to Congress, 2004. Employment and Work-related Risk Factor 4. Educational Attainment

• There has been a marked decline over the past 40 years in the percentage of the population that has not received a high school education. This percentage fell from 59 percent in 1960 to 16 percent in 2002.
• The percentage of the population receiving a high school education only (with no subsequent college) was 25 percent in 1960 and rose to 39 percent in 1988. Since then this figure has fallen to 32 percent in 2002, although some of this decline is a result of a change in the survey methodology in 1992 (see note to Table WORK 4).
• Between 1960 and 1990, the percentage of the population with some college (one to three years) doubled, from 9 percent to 18 percent. The apparent jump in 1992 is a result of a change in the survey methodology (see note to Table WORK 4), but the trend continued upward, reaching 25 percent in 2002.
• The percentage of the population completing four or more years of college has more than tripled from 1960 to 2002, rising steadily from 8 percent to 27 percent.

Table WORK 4. Percentage of Adults Age 25 and Over, by Level of Educational Attainment Selected Years