Age group 



5 years 



6 years 



7 to 9 years 



10 to 13 years 



14 years 



15 years 



16 to 17 years 



18 to 19 years 



20 years 



21 to 24 years 



Total number 



Number attending 

 school 



Percent attending 



2,142,407 

 2,054,385 

 6,485,830 

 9,340,205 

 2,405,730 

 2,422,519 

 4,892,170 

 5,018,834 

 2,367,042 

 9,220,793 



385,160 

 1,420,051 

 6,119,026 

 8,915,669 

 2,224,670 

 2,122,995 

 3,361,206 

 1,449,485 

 294,962 

 465,875 



18.0 

 69.1 

 94.3 

 95.5 

 92.5 

 87.6 

 68.7 

 28.9 

 12.5 

 5.1 



The percentage figures by age 

 groups showing school attendance 

 during 1940 are: 



Percent attending school in each age grou-p 

 Age group: 



5 to 6 years 43 



7 to 13 years _ _— 95 



14 to 15 years _... 90 



16 to 17 years.. __ 68 



18 to 20 years _ 23.6 



21 to 24 years _ 5.1 



It will be observed that the per- 

 centage of school attendance rises to 



age 13 when boys and girls approach 

 the end of the elementary school and 

 junior high school and likewise when 

 employment in many States becomes 

 legal; but that thereafter it declines. 

 From age 17 on, the decline in at- 

 tendance is rapid, to the 5.1 percent 

 in the years 21 to 24 of college and 

 university attendance. 



The following figures show the 

 educational attainments of the popu- 

 lation 25 years old and over in the 

 year 1940: 



School years completed 



Total 



Number school years completed. 



Grade school: 



1 to 4 years 



5 and 6 years 



7 and 8 years 



High school: 



1 to 3 years 



4 years 



College: 



1 to 3 years 



4 years or more 



Median school years completed. 



Number of persons 



73,733,866 



2,799,923 



7 



8 



25 



11 

 10 



4 

 3 



,304,689 

 ,515,111 

 ,897,953 



,181,995 

 ,551,680 



,075,184 

 ,407,331 



Percent 



100.0 



3.8 



9.9 

 11.6 

 35.1 



15.2 

 14.3 



5.5 

 4.6 



8.4 



Not including persons for whom school years completed were not reported. 



It will be noted that about half of cent had had less than a fifth-grade 



the population 25 years of age and education. 



over had completed approximately The foregoing figures of school 



8^2 grades but that some 13.7 per- attendance collected in the 1940 



167 



