Educational Attainment: Understanding the Data

Sandy Baum, The George Washington University and The Urban Institute; Alisa Federico Cunningham, Independent Consultant; and Courtney Tanenbaum, American Institutes for Research The information in this report provides a useful view of a subset of questions about educational attainment in the United States. The primary goal of this report and the data presented, however, is to highlight the importance of clarifying exactly what is being measured by the various data sources and bringing multiple sources of information to bear in developing a more nuanced understanding of the problems the United States faces, the progress the nation is making, and constructive strategies for achieving our educational attainment goals.