A Half-Century of Learning: Historical Statistics on Educational Attainment in the USA.

A Half-Century of Learning: Historical Statistics on Educational Attainment in the United States.
: 1940 to 2000 — In 1940, statistics on educational attainment were collected for every person enumerated in the census and from a sample of them thereafter. In 1940, only 25 percent of the population age 25 and older had a high school diploma, and just 5 percent earned a bachelor’s degree or more. By the close of the 20th century, these figures had increased to 80 percent with high school diplomas and 24 percent with bachelor’s degrees. Educational attainment data are shown by sex, race and Hispanic origin (since 1980) at the regional and state levels. These data are based on the decennial census and are separate from annual data collected in the Current Population Survey.

For more information at http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education/introphct41.html