Washington, DC– According to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of students nationwide enrolled in school was 76.4 million in 2017, not statistically different from the level in 2016. Those who are enrolled make up 24.7 percent of the population age 3 and older.
Classrooms are becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. In 2007, 56.7 percent of elementary school students (kindergarten through grade 8) and 66.1 percent of college students (undergraduate and graduate) were non-Hispanic white.
Of just the current undergraduate college student population, 52.9 percent are non-Hispanic white, 20.9 percent are Hispanic, 15.1 percent are black, and 7.6 percent are Asian, while graduate students are 61.2 percent white non-Hispanic, 13.6 percent Hispanic, 12.3 percent black, and 11.2 percent Asian.
Since 2007, overall enrollment in high school has not significantly changed; however, more people are graduating from high school. The percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds who graduated from high school increased from 83.9 percent in 2007 to 87.5 percent in 2017. This increase has been particularly pronounced among the Hispanic population, which saw an increase in graduation from 67.4 percent in 2007 to 82 percent in 2017.
While the number enrolled in college was unchanged from 10 years ago, there was substantive change over the past decade — the overall number climbed by around 2 million from 2007 to 2011 before receding to 18.4 million in 2017. Today, women continue to be a majority on college campuses at 54.9 percent of undergraduate students and 59.8 percent of graduate students. Only 29.3 percent of undergraduate college students are attending two-year institutions.
