Among Americans with earnings in the top 60 percent, 57 percent have an associate degree or higher, compared to only 28 percent of earners in the bottom 40 percent, the report says. Only 21 percent of Latinx adults and 31 percent of Black adults have a postsecondary degree, compared to 46 percent of white adults.
The report examines what could happen if the bottom 40 percent of earners got college degrees at the same rate as the top 60 percent and if higher education attainment rates were the same across racial groups. According to the analysis, over half the population, 58 percent, would have a postsecondary degree in that scenario, including an additional 12.9 million low-income white Americans, 10.2 million Latinx Americans, 5.9 million Black Americans and 498,000 Asian Americans.