Daily AncestorC-4
C-4 in the 1940 census education column means four years of college; C-1 to C-5 count years of college or professional school.
The 1940 census asked the highest grade of school completed. For college, enumerators wrote C-1 to C-5 for 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 or more years at a college, university or professional school such as law, medical, normal or theological school.
The 1950 census used the same idea without the dash: C1 to C4 for the years of college and C5 for graduate or professional school, with S1 to S12 for school grades. In 1950 the question asked the highest grade attended rather than completed.
As seen in a recordEducation columns of the 1940 census
Stone, Ruth, Daughter, F, W, 23, S, No, C-4
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "C-4." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/census-c. Last checked 2026-10-10.