New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that more than 4.6 million African Americans now hold a four-year college degree. One in five adult African Americans over the age of 25 are now college educated.
The statistics also show that 1,232,000 African Americans hold a master’s degree. Some 177,000 Black Americans hold professional degrees. And 174,000 African American have earned doctorates.
There has been tremendous progress, but a significant racial gap remains. While 19.9 percent of adult African Americans have obtained at least a four-year college degree, 34 percent of non-Hispanic Whites are college educated.