Sources of Educational Growth in America

The twentieth century has witnessed an educational revolution in the United States. A look at census statistics reveals the magnitude of this trend. Persons born during the first five years of the century achieved a median of 8.6 grades of schooling, while persons born at midcentury reached a median of 12.8 grades; in 1910 only 62.5% of young Americans aged 5-19 were enrolled in school, but by 1974 this figure reached 89.4%. The growth of educational attainment in the population has implications for many aspects of social life: the economic and social standing of individuals and occupations, political attitudes and behavior,consumer behavior, attitudes toward work and leisure, and marriage and fertility patterns. And yet the causes of this phenomenon are not well understood.