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If you’re looking to further your education and want to know what the highest degree you can earn is, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to learn more about the highest degree in education and what it can do for you.
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Educational Attainment in the United States
The highest degree in education that you can achieve in the United States is a Doctorate degree. This is the terminal degree, which means that there is no higher degree that you can achieve after this. A Doctorate degree usually takes between four and eight years to complete, depending on the field of study.
Educational attainment by race and Hispanic origin
In 2017, the highest percentage of adults 25 and older who had completed at least a bachelor’s degree were Asians (51%), followed by whites (34%), blacks (22%), and Hispanics (20%). The increase in educational attainment among Asians was due largely to increases among those born in the United States.
Asians had the highest percentage of adults 25 and older who had completed at least a master’s degree or higher educational level (26%), followed by whites (19%), blacks (8%), and Hispanics (7%).
The percentage of adults 25 and older who had completed an associate’s degree or some college but no bachelor’s degree was higher among blacks (17%) and Hispanics (14%) than whites (11%) and Asians (9%).
Educational attainment by sex
The percentages of adults aged 25 and over who have completed high school or obtained a GED/HiSET certificate and who have also completed some college or an associate’s degree, respectively, are higher for women (84 and 38 percent) than for men (78 and 33 percent). Among those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, women are more likely to have completed their education at a public institution (70 percent) than men (61 percent).
The Highest Degree in Education
The highest degree in education is the doctorate degree. It is also the most difficult degree to earn. A doctorate degree generally takes about six to eight years to complete. A student must first earn a bachelor’s degree, then a master’s degree, and finally a doctorate degree.
The highest degree by race and Hispanic origin
There are significant differences in the highest degree received by race and Hispanic origin. White and Asian students are more likely to have received a bachelor’s or higher degree than their Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native counterparts.
Of the 3,853,000 bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2016–17, 68 percent were awarded to Whites, 14 percent to Blacks, 12 percent to Asians, and 6 percent to Hispanics. Among those with a master’s or higher degree, 74 percent were awarded to Whites, 10 percent to Blacks, 13 percent to Asians, and 3 percent to Hispanics ( Digest of Education Statistics, Table 104.10 ).
The highest degree by sex
The table below shows the highest level of education achieved by adults in the United States, by sex. The data are from the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS).
|Highest level of education achieved| Male| Female|
|--|--|--|
|Doctoral degree | 8.0% | 9.2% |
|Professional degree | 4.4% | 5.7% |
|Master’s degree | 11.5% | 14.1% |
|Bachelor’s degree | 18.0% | 20.4% |
|Associate’s degree | 7.9% | 9.1% |
|Some college, no degree | 15.7% | 12.6%
The Relationship Between the Highest Degree in Education and Employment
The highest degree in education that an individual can receive is typically determined by the type of job they are applying for. For example, jobs in the medical field generally require a higher degree than jobs in the retail industry. The highest degree in education also generally corresponds to a higher salary. There is a positive relationship between the highest degree in education and employment.
The relationship between the highest degree in education and employment by race and Hispanic origin
There is a strong relationship between the highest degree in education and employment by race and Hispanic origin. In general, those with higher levels of educational attainment are more likely to be employed than those with lower levels of educational attainment. However, there are some notable exceptions.
For example, among blacks and Hispanics, there is little difference in the employment rates of those with a high school diploma or GED and those with some college or an associate degree. However, black and Hispanic workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher are much more likely to be employed than those with lower levels of educational attainment.
whites, the employment rate for those with a high school diploma or GED is lower than the rate for those with some college or an associate degree. However, white workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher are more likely to be employed than those with lower levels of educational attainment.
The relationship between the highest degree in education and employment by sex
The relationship between the highest degree in education and employment by sex is shown in Table 1. In general, the higher the degree, the higher the employment rate. For example, in 2016, the employment rate for persons aged 25 to 64 with a university certificate or diploma was 81%, while the rate for those without a certificate or diploma was 54%. The gap was even wider for persons aged 25 to 64 with a university bachelor’s degree or above. Their employment rate stood at 89%, while the rate for those without a university degree was 62%.
There are some notable differences between men and women with respect to their highest degree and employment. For example, in 2016, 79% of employed women aged 25 to 64 had a university certificate or diploma, compared with 67% of employed men. However, men were more likely than women to have attained a university bachelor’s degree or above (34% compared with 28%).
