Broadening Our Perspective Concerning America's Education Attainment: Growth, Progress, and Data Gaps. CSHE 2. 26 (April 2026)

Our research demonstrates that the current narrative of education stagnancy or decline is misleading. We focus on ages 15–25 and find a pattern of growth and progress in Advanced Placement, dual enrollment (i.e., combining high school and college), four-year colleges/universities growth and completion, apprenticeships, certificates, and credentials. Together, these elements significantly increase the number of years U.S. students spend in education and their attainment. Just as importantly, however, our analysis identifies where current research and data infrastructure fall short. While there are promising developments in sectors such as career and technical education, college transfer, and remedial education, the data gaps in these three sectors do not permit overall conclusions. Some sectors—like on-the-job training, military education, and credentials—lack sufficient data to determine trends. For this reason, our assessment offers not only a longitudinal scan of institutional and programmatic attainment growth, but also a guide to the questions policymakers and researchers must now prioritize and the places where further data must be gathered.