---
title: "Higher Achievements: U.S. High School and College Completion Rates Continue to Climb"
description: "Record shares of young adults are completing high school, going to college and finishing college.  In 2012, for the first time ever, one-third of the nation’s 25- to 29-year-olds have completed at least a bachelor’s degree."
date: "2012-11-05"
authors:
  - name: "No Author"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2012/11/05/us-high-school-and-college-completion-rates-continue-to-climb/"
categories:
  - "Education"
  - "Higher Education"
---

# Higher Achievements: U.S. High School and College Completion Rates Continue to Climb

Record shares of young adults are completing high school, going to college and finishing college, according to a Pew Research Center [analysis of newly available census data](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2012/11/05/record-shares-of-young-adults-have-finished-both-high-school-and-college/). In 2012, for the first time ever, one-third of the nation’s 25- to 29-year-olds have completed at least a bachelor’s degree.

These across-the-board increases have occurred despite dramatic immigration-driven changes in the racial and ethnic composition of college-age young adults, a trend that had led some experts to expect a decline in educational attainment.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2012/11/ST_12.10.22_educational_Attainment.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2012/11/05/record-shares-of-young-adults-have-finished-both-high-school-and-college/)