Higher education is associated with greater earnings and standard of living. Post-graduate plans are also an indirect measure of the educational strength of the region's schools.

In 2021 55% of high school graduates in Lancaster County planned to attend a 2- or 4-year college or university, a decrease of 8 percentage points from 2008. The Lancaster rate in 2021 was lower than the state rate of 59%, which saw a decrease of 10 percentage points (69% to 59% in that same time period).

Lancaster County's 2- or 4-year college going rate was below Chester (72%) and Cumberland (64%), the same as York (55%), and slightly higher than Berks and Dauphin (both 53%) and Lebanon (52%).

The plans of a high school graduate may not come to fruition for many reasons, including finances, lack of admission opportunities, or a change of plans between the time of reporting and enrollment. For purposes of the listed reports, a high school graduate is a student who has received a diploma. Students earning high school credentials by obtaining a General Educational Development (GED) diploma are not considered graduates for the purpose of the data as reported by the state of Pennsylvania.