The Education of Hoosiers: An Overview

Indiana’s adults (age 25 and older) comprise two-thirds of our population. Most importantly, they comprise the bulk of our workforce as well as a growing proportion of the retired elderly.

Understanding the levels of education Hoosier adults have attained is fundamental to understanding the capacity of our workforce. With the release of the five-year estimates of the American Community Survey (a product of the U.S. Census Bureau) for 2011, we now have two estimates available for comparison.

What can we learn from the 2010 and 2011 estimates? We have fewer Hoosiers with less than a high school or even ninth grade education and more adults with some college courses and degrees (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Educational Attainment Change between 2010 and 2011 Five-Year Estimates

Figure 1: Educational Attainment Change between 2010 and 2011 Five-Year Estimates

Source: IBRC, using U.S. Census Bureau ACS five-year estimates

Impressive gains have been made in the increase of adults with an associate degree, growing by nearly 10,000 persons between the two periods of time measured by these estimates. Even more impressive are gains in the population with at least some college (although no degree—yet), an increase of more than 20,000 (see Table 1).

Table 1: Indiana's Educational Attainment Statistics, 2010 to 2011

Educational Attainment 2011 Percent of 2011 Adults 2010 Percent of 2010 Adults Change 2010 to 2011 Percent Change
Population 25 Years and Over 4,199,481 100% 4,165,617 100% 33,864 0.8%
Less than 9th Grade 178,306 4.2% 180,416 4.3% -2,110 -1.2%
9th to 12th Grade, No Diploma 382,906 9.1% 394,031 9.5% -11,125 -2.8%
High School Graduate (Including Equivalency) 1,504,338 35.8% 1,506,526 36.2% -2,188 -0.1%
Some College, No Degree 866,012 20.6% 845,057 20.3% 20,955 2.5%
Associate Degree 315,182 7.5% 305,295 7.3% 9,887 3.2%
Bachelor's Degree 611,431 14.6% 597,152 14.3% 14,279 2.4%
Graduate or Professional Degree 341,306 8.1% 337,140 8.1% 4,166 1.2%
Percent High School Graduate or Higher n/a 86.6% n/a 86.2% n/a n/a
Percent Bachelor's Degree or Higher n/a 22.7% n/a 22.4% n/a n/a

Source: IBRC, using U.S. Census Bureau ACS five-year estimates

Access more 2011 data for a variety of topics and geographies at www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/.

Carol. O. Rogers
Deputy Director and Executive Editor, Indiana Business Research Center, Indiana University Kelley School of Business