KEY FINDINGS
• The U.S. ranks 14
th
in the world in the percentage of 25-34 year-olds with higher education (42%).
• The odds that a young person in the U.S. will be in higher education if his or her parents do not
have an upper secondary education are just 29% -- one of the lowest levels among OECD countries.
• The U.S ranks 28
th
in the percentage of 4-year-olds in early childhood education, with a 69%
enrolment rate.
• Across all OECD countries, 30% of the expenditure on higher education comes from private
sources, while in the U.S., 62% does.
• Teachers in the U.S. spend between 1 050 and 1 100 hours a year teaching – much more than in
almost every country.
The U.S.’s higher education attainment levels are quite high overall, but other countries are increasing
attainment levels at a faster rate.
In the United States, 42% of all 25-64 year-olds have a tertiary (higher education) attainment, making it one
of the most well-educated countries in the world. Only Canada (51%), Israel (46%), Japan (45%) and the
Russian Federation (54%) have higher tertiary attainment levels among this age group (Table A1.3a). At the
same time, a number of countries have now surpassed the U.S. in the percentage of younger adults with a
tertiary attainment. The U.S. ranks 14
th
among 37 OECD and G20 countries in the percentage of 25-34 yearolds with higher education, at 42% - above the OECD average (38%), but far behind the leader, Korea (65%)
(Chart A1.1).UNITED STATES – Country Note – Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators
© OECD 2
1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932661478
Although overall tertiary attainment levels in the U.S. have been high for many years and remain well above
the OECD average (30%), they are growing at a below-average rate compared to other OECD and G20
countries. For example, between 2000 and 2010, tertiary attainment in the U.S. grew an average of 1.3
percentage points a year, compared to 3.7 percentage points annually for OECD countries overall (Table
A1.4).
Based on these trends, the U.S. may find that an increasing number of countries will approach or surpass its
attainment levels in the coming years. Other countries in this situation include Estonia, Finland, Israel and
the Russian Federation (Chart A1.3).
These trends are also mirrored in the graduate output of higher education institutions. In 1995, the U.S.
ranked 2
nd
after New Zealand in terms of the higher education graduation rate among 19 OECD countries
with comparable data. In 2010, it ranked 13
th
among 25 countries with comparable data. While the higher
education graduation rate in the U.S. grew from 33% to 38% over this period, on average across OECD
countries it virtually doubled, from 20% to 39% (Table A3.2).
The odds that a young person will be in higher education if his or her family has a low level of education
are particularly small in the U.S.
One way countries can increase higher education attainment is by establishing a level playing field – for
example, by working to assure that young people from educationally-disadvantaged backgrounds have a fair
chance at entering higher education. In every OECD country, the odds that a 20-34 year-old will attend
higher education increase with the educational attainment level of his or her parents. On average across
OECD countries, a young person with at least one parent who has a tertiary degree is almost twice as likely
(odds of 1.9) to be in higher education, compared to the proportion of such families in the population. A UNITED STATES – Country Note – Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators
© OECD 3
young person whose parents have an upper secondary education has essentially even odds (1.03) of being in
higher education, while a young person whose parents have not attained an upper secondary education has
low odds (0.44) (Table A6.1).
1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932661934
While the percentage of parents who have not attained an upper secondary education is smaller in the U.S.
than in many OECD countries – 17%, compared to 33% across all OECD countries – the odds that the
children of these parents will be in higher education are particularly low, at just 29% (odds of 0.29). These
odds are below every other OECD country except Canada and New Zealand (Note: due to differences in data
reporting, intergenerational mobility in higher education in the U.S. may be understated) (Chart A6.1). By
contrast, the odds that a young person in the U.S. will be in higher education if his or her parents have an
upper secondary education are 74%, and 158% if one or more parent has attained higher education (Table
A6.1).
Early childhood education is not as well-developed in the U.S. as in some other countries.
Increasing access to early childhood education is another way countries can help prepare students for
academic progress later on. For example, OECD research finds that in most countries, 15-year-olds who
have attended pre-primary education tend to perform better on the OECD’s PISA assessment than those who
have not, even after accounting for students’ socio-economic backgrounds.
Early childhood education in the U.S. is somewhat less established than in other OECD countries, especially
in Europe, where formal pre-primary education in the public school system is more often the norm. On
average across OECD countries, 84% of pupils in early childhood education attend programmes in public
schools or government-dependent private institutions, while in the U.S., 55% of early childhood pupils UNITED STATES – Country Note – Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators
© OECD 4
attend programmes in public schools, and 45% attend independent private programmes. In the U.S. the
typical starting age for early childhood education is 4 years old, while in 21 other OECD countries, it is 3
years old or younger (Table C2.2). In addition, education-only early childhood programmes in other
countries are usually delivered by a qualified teacher and have a formal curriculum, while in the U.S., the
situation can vary (Table C2.3).
1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932663055
The U.S ranks 28
th
among 38 OECD and G20 countries in the percentage of 4-year-olds in early childhood
education, with a 69% enrolment rate (Chart C2.1; Table C2.1). It ranks 6
th
among 34 OECD and G20
countries in terms of annual expenditure per pupil at this level (USD 8 396; OECD average USD 6 670)
(Table B1.a), although total public and private expenditure on early childhood education as a percentage of
GDP (0.4%) is below the OECD average (0.5%). The ratio of pupils to teaching staff in early childhood
programmes in the U.S. (14.6) is slightly above the OECD average (14.4), but when teachers’ aides are
factored in, the ratio drops below the OECD average (11.4 U.S.; 12.3 OECD average) (Table C2.2).
The personal costs of obtaining a higher education in the U.S. are large…
In the U.S., the total cost for an individual to obtain a higher education is quite large. On average, the total
cost for a man in the U.S. to pursue higher education is more than USD 116 000 – about USD 71 000 in
direct costs, and USD 45 000 in foregone earnings while he is in school. Only three other countries have total
costs that exceed USD 100 000: Japan (USD 103 965), the Netherlands (USD 104 231), and the United
Kingdom (USD 122 555). However, in these latter countries, the lion’s share of the total costs consists of
foregone earnings. For women in the U.S., the total costs of higher education are slightly higher:
USD 117 000 on average, comprised of USD 71 000 in direct costs, and USD 46 000 in foregone earnings
(Table A9.3).
…but the long-term economic rewards are strong, both for individuals…UNITED STATES – Country Note – Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators
© OECD 5
At the same time, the payoff for obtaining a higher education degree is much higher in the U.S. than in most
OECD countries. For example, over the course of his working life, a tertiary-educated man in the U.S. can
expect to earn almost USD 675 000 more than a man with no more than an upper secondary or
postsecondary non-tertiary education – far more than in any other country. Meanwhile, a woman with
tertiary education in the U.S. can expect to earn almost USD 390 000 more on average, an amount
approached only by tertiary-educated women in Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom
(Table A9.3). Over the last decade, the earnings advantage of tertiary graduates over high school graduates
has increased in the U.S. from 181% to 184% among men and from 169% to 175% among women (Tables
A8.2b and A8.2c). All told, the net present value of obtaining a higher education – that is, the long-term
economic benefits, minus the associated costs – is almost USD 330 000 for a man in the U.S. and more than
USD 168 000 for a woman. Only in Portugal is this amount higher (Table A9.3).
…and for the public purse.
U.S. taxpayers also realise a healthy return on the public funds that are used to support individuals in higher
education. On average, they bear a cost (direct and indirect) of USD 45 554 to support a man in higher
education and USD 45 618 to support a woman in higher education. Both amounts are higher than the OECD
average, which is USD 36 085 for men and USD 35 281 for women. In the long run, however, taxpayers will
recoup this investment many times over through the increased income taxes that tertiary-educated workers
typically pay, as well as savings from the lower amount of social welfare benefits these individuals typically
receive. Overall, the net public return in the U.S. amounts to USD 232 779 for each tertiary-educated man,
and USD 84 313 for each tertiary-educated woman. For men, this public return is higher than in every
country but Hungary; for women, it is the 7
th
-highest return among OECD countries (Table A9.4; Chart
A9.4).UNITED STATES – Country Note – Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Ind
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