Hill released the album on August 25, 1998, Her first solo album.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill had first-week sales of 422,624 copies and set a record for women artistes at the time. Her record was broken in 2015 later by Adele, with her album 25.

 Miseducation went on to achieve five Grammys making Hill the first woman to earn five Grammys in one night. Her wins included Best New Artiste, Best R&B Album and Album of the Year. No other black woman has won Album of the Year ever since.

The only other rap act to have won the same award is the rap duo Outkast, made up Andre 3000 and Big Boi, for the group’s 2003 double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Throughout Hill’s career, she has won eight Grammy and received nineteen Grammy nominations in total. In 2015, the album was added to the US Library of Congress as an influential body of work.

 Then in 2021, Guinness Book of World Records, announced that Hill had become the first woman rapper to reach RIAA Diamond certification for selling 10 million copies of Miseducation. The only other rappers to have projects that have achieved Diamond status are: Eminem, OutKast, Notorious B.I.G., 2Pac, Beastie Boys and MC Hammer.