Undergrad degree attainment at age 27: 32% women, 24% men

Article here. Excerpt:

'At 27 years of age, 28 percent of individuals had received their bachelor’s degree while 38 percent had attended some college or received an associate’s degree. Eighteen percent of 27 year-olds had a high school diploma and no further schooling, and 7 percent had earned a General Educational Development(GED) credential and no further schooling.

Women were more likely than men to have received a bachelor’s degree. Thirty-two percent of women had earned a bachelor’s degree, compared with 24 percent of men. In total, 70 percent of women had either attended some college or received a bachelor’s degree, compared to 61 percent of men. In addition to being more likely to attend college, women were more likely to have finished their college degree. Of the 70 percent of women who started college, 46 percent completed their bachelor’s degree by age 27. In comparison, of the 61 percent of men who started college, 39 percent had completed their bachelor’s degree.

At age 27, there was a large difference in educational attainment among racial and ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics were more likely than whites not to have obtained a high school diploma. In comparison, whites were more than twice as likely as blacks or Hispanics to have received their bachelor’s degree by this age. Thirty-three percent of whites had received their bachelor’s degree at age 27, compared with 15 percent of blacks or Hispanics. Among those who had attended college, whites were more likely than blacks or Hispanics to have received a bachelor’s degree. Just over one-quarter of blacks and Hispanics who had attended college had received a bachelor’s degree by age 27, compared to nearly one-half of whites.
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Employment differences by education began early in workers’ careers. From ages 18 to 22, high school dropouts were employed 51 percent of weeks, and out of the labor force 36 percent of weeks. In comparison, high school graduates worked 68 percent of weeks from ages 18 to 22, and were out of the labor force for 23 percent of weeks. This pattern persisted at later ages. From ages 23 to 26, high school dropouts worked 57 percent of weeks and were out of the labor force for 32 percent of weeks, compared to high school graduates, who worked 74 percent of weeks and were out of the labor force 19 percent of weeks. The labor force participation of college graduates underwent the greatest change. For college graduates, the percent of weeks worked rose from 66 percent at ages 18 to 22, to 85 percent at ages 23 to 26. These individuals spent 31 percent of weeks out of the labor force from ages 18 to 22, but only 12 percent of weeks out of the labor force from ages 23 to 26, less than all other educational attainment categories.'