U.S. credential attainment among working-age adults is edging closer to a goal of 60% by 2025 set by Lumina Foundation in 2008.
The foundation on Thursday released its latest findings pertaining to adults age 25 to 64 who have acquired college degrees, certificates, industry-recognized certifications or other credentials of value. The data from 2023 (the latest available federal figures) shows 54.9% of working-age adults had a credential in 2023, up from 54.3% in 2022 and 53.7% in 2021. In 2008, the rate was 37.9%.
While the year-to-year increases in credential attainment are impressive, the overall trend since 2008 is most significant, Lumina Foundation Vice President Courtney Brown said in a press call.
“I think that we have made incredible progress. The fact that we have increased from 38% to 55% now is remarkable,” she said, observing that the 60% target set in 2008 was ambitious.
Since then, 49 states have set their own goals for credential attainment–often supported by practices and policies–which is pushing up the number, Brown added.
Among states, 42 have experienced growth in credential attainment, Lumina says, with Colorado (63.0%) and Massachusetts (63.0%), Utah (61.8%), Minnesota (61.7%) and Connecticut (60.2%), reaching or surpassing the 60% goal. States with the lowest rates include West Virginia (44.3%), Nevada (45.0%), Alabama (47.4%), Arkansas (47.8%), Louisiana (48.5%), Alaska (48.5%), Mississippi (48.7%) and Tennessee (48.8%).
The new data is included in Lumina’s “A Stronger Nation” tool, which disaggregates information by race/ethnicity, age and credential type based on national, state and metro levels.
Breaking down the numbers
Lumina further breaks down the overall attainment figures. For example, 2023 degree attainment is 47.1% and 7.8% for high-value, short-term credentials.
Breaking down degrees, 23.4% had bachelor’s degrees, 14.5% graduate or professional degrees and 9.2% associate degrees. Among credentials, college-level certificates comprised 4.2% and industry-recognized certifications 3.6%.
About 10.8% of adults had some college but no credential, the report says.
Not surprisingly, younger adults (ages 25 to 34) have a higher rate of credential attainment at 56.8%, with 27.7% of them with baccalaureates and 8.7% with associate degrees. They have the same rate for certification attainment at 7.8%, with 11.5% reporting some college but no credential.
A closer look at race, gender
Although the overall 2023 figure is the highest level of attainment nationally since Lumina started tracking earned credentials, the data show that rates vary among race/ethnicity, with increases among Black and Hispanic adults far behind those of White and Asian adults.
Asian adults led in credential attainment at 67.1%, followed by White adults at 52%, with Black adults at 36.1% and Hispanic adults at 29.7%. Despite the uneven attainment, Brown noted that Black and Hispanic adults have made significant gains over the years. Since 2008, Black attainment has increased by nearly 10 percentage points, while Hispanic and Latino attainment rose by more than 9 percentage points.
The tool also provides information on subgroups, which illustrates variations among races. Among Asians, Taiwanese adults had the highest 2023 attainment rate at 91%, followed by Indian adults (84%) and Japanese adults (75%). Bhutanese (22%), Burmese (26%) and Laotian (29%) had the lowest rates. The subgroups for Hispanics had similar revealing figures. Adults who were Venezuelan (65%), Argentinian (59%) and Chilean (57%) had the highest rates, while those who are Guatemalan (17%), Honduran (19%), Savaldoran (19%) and Mexican (23%) had the lowest.
The tool also reveals differences among genders, with females having higher rates. Asian adults had the narrowest differences between males (67.0%) and females (67.1%), while Hispanic adults had the widest difference, 26.0% for males and 41.3% for females. For Black adults, the rates were 30.5% for males and 41.3% for females, and for Whites, 48% and 56.2%, respectively.
