Description

EDUCYRS reports the respondent's years of education.

EDUC reports the highest level the respondent has completed. As degrees can take varying amounts of time to complete, EDUCYRS was created from a series of questions that assess the amount of time spent in various educational programs.

The following categories include people with the following types of education:

• Twelfth grade: Respondents who report a twelfth grade education are assigned a value of 112. Respondents who receive a high school diploma are also included in this category, as are respondents who complete less than one year of college, including respondents who receive an associate's degree after less than one year of college.

• College--four years: Respondents who report having completed four years of college credit are assigned a value of 216, as are respondents (in the CPS prior to 2015) who have a bachelor's degree but no post-graduate education.

• College degree: Respondents who completed their rotation in the CPS in 2015 or later and who report having completed a bachelor's degree but no post-graduate education.

• Master's degree: Respondents who completed their rotation in the CPS in 2015 or later and who report having completed a master's degree.

• Master's degree--one year program: Respondents who report receiving a master's degree in a one-year program, or who report earning 1-6 graduate or professional course credits are assigned a value of 317.

• Master's degree--two year program: Respondents who report receiving a master's degree in a two-year program, or who report earning more than six graduate or professional course credits are assigned a value of 318.

• Master's degree--three year program: Respondents who report receiving a master's degree in a three-year program are assigned a value of 319.

EDUCYRS along with other information on education was drawn from the final CPS interview, conducted 2-5 months before the ATUS interview. Education was not updated at the time of the ATUS interview.

Comparability

This variable is comparable for individuals in the 2003-2014 ATUS data files and those in 2015 who completed their participation in the CPS in 2014 or earlier (see YEAR_CPS8). For respondents whose final month of participation in the CPS was in 2015 or later (in the ATUS in 2015 and later), information about completing graduate credits, taking graduate courses, and Master's degree program length is not available.

Codes were altered in 2016 to accommodate the 2015 CPS changes. A crosswalk between the old and new EDUCYRS codes is available.

Universe

Availability

• 2003-2023

Flags