For the first time, the percentage of the American population age 25 and older that completed high school or higher levels of education reached 90 percent in 2017.

The nation has made giant strides in education since 1940, when only 24 percent of people age 25 and older had finished four years of high school or more, according to recently -released educational attainment data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.

In contrast, 77 years later a high school education is viewed as a prerequisite for many jobs in the modern economy, which helps explain the record 90 percent high school completion rate today.