New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows large racial gaps in educational attainment in 2025. That year, nearly 9 million African American adults over the age of 25 held at least a bachelor’s degree. This was 29.9 percent of African Americans over the age of 25. For non-Hispanic Whites, the figure was 43.2 percent.
Some 10.6 percent of Black adults held a graduate or professional degree compared to 16.8 percent of non-Hispanic Whites.
On the other extreme, 9 percent of African American adults over the age of 25 had not graduated from high school. Only 4.3 percent of non-Hispanic White adults over the age of 25 did not have a high school diploma.
When we break the figures down by gender, we see a major advantage for Black women. In 2025, 32.9 percent of Black women over the age of 25 had obtained at least a bachelor’s degree and 13 percent had earned an advanced degree. For African American men over the age of 25, 26.6 percent had a least a bachelor’s degree and 8 percent had an advanced degree.
