According the US Census quick facts page the percentage of persons age 25+ holding a bachelor’s degree or higher is 28.2%. In the same age group the percentage of people with a GED or better is 85.4%.

Great, so as a country we’re mostly literate in basic high school reading, writing, math­e­mat­ics, and science. This could be considered a good thing since we’re in much better shape than 100 years ago. On the other hand it means that there are a number of positions in economy which require 4 years degrees at a minimum that are out of reach to many.