What is the average level of education in the US?

Question

What percentage finishes high school? How many go to college? What is the literacy rate?... and about quality... do people educated in US schools understand what they read?

Answer 1

80% percent of the nation's adults 25 and over with at least a high school diploma at the time of Census 2000. The corresponding rate in the 1990 census was 75 percent.
from: http://censtats.census.gov/pub/Profiles.shtml
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24% percent of the nation's adults 25 and over who said they had at least a bachelor's degree at the time of Census 2000. The 1990 census showed the corresponding rate to be 20 percent.
from: http://censtats.census.gov/pub/Profiles.shtml
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Answer 2

I know that in the state I live in, Florida, only half graduate high school. Admittedly, we do have one of the worst graduation rates in the country. I know we were the state with the 49th or 50th worst graduation rate this past year, but still that's so sad.

I know the colleges in our state are pretty well attended so I assume the students that actually do graduate attend college. I think many of those that graduate do understand what they read, the ones that go to college, but the real question should probably be: do the students educated in US schools bother or take the time to read? I remember when I met my future husband in college I was just so impressed by him because he was actually READING A BOOK when I met him! That probably shouldn't be such an unusual thing on a college campus but sadly it was.

I took English courses and there were lots of students that didn't bother to read the books. Why did they bother to sign up for the course? I guess they were there just to have a good time and party, but then sign up for other easy classes or whatever. But really, why be there at all? Let some other deserving student that will actually read the books and learn take your place.

Answer 3

If all your questions are education related, go to http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education.html If you want to research other demographic statistics, start at http://www.census.gov/