University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign

Education Levels: Parents' and Mothers' Education Level

IECAM provides data on the education levels of Illinois parents and Illinois mothers. Percent of births to mothers age 20 and older without high school diploma. Parents' education level in Illinois. Percent of parents whose highest education level is: Grade 8, Grade 12 with no diploma, High School diploma, GED or alternative, 1 or more years of college with no degree, Bachelor’s Degree, Associate degree, Master’s degree, Professional degree beyond college)

About this data

The education level (that is, highest level of schooling attained) of parents and mothers who are living with their children. The levels are (1) no schooling completed; (2) nursery school, preschool; (3) kindergarten; (4-14) grade 1 through 11; (15) 12th grade, no diploma; (16) high school diploma; (17) GED; (18) some college, but less than 1 year; (19) 1 or more years of college credit, no degree; (20) associate’s degree; (21) bachelor’s degree; (22) master’s degree; (23) professional degree beyond a bachelor’s; and (24) doctoral degree.

  • Specific education levels: Percent of parents whose highest education level is grade 8, grade 12 with no diploma, high school diploma, GED or alternative, 1 or more years of college with no degree, bachelor’s degree, associate degree, master’s degree, professional degree beyond college
  • Inclusive education levels: “Less than 1 year of college” and all education levels below that level; “1 or more years of college with no college degree” and all education levels above that level

Source of data: IPUMS, Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) 

Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) are geographic areas for which the Census Bureau provides selected extracts of raw data from a small sample of census records that are screened to protect confidentiality. These extracts are referred to as public use microdata sample (PUMS) files. For the decennial census, each state delineates PUMAs for use in presenting PUMS data. These areas are required to contain at least 100,000 people.

The Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS-USA) consists of more than 50 high-precision samples of the American population drawn from 15 federal censuses and from the American Community Surveys of 2000-2019. IPUMS is published and maintained by the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota. For more information about PUMAs, visit IECAM’s About Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) page.

For data prior to 2017, contact IECAM.