Dive Brief:
- The United States ranks fifth in an OECD analysis of 46 nations that examined the portion of adults with post-high school education, revealing a backslide as other countries make strong gains.
- The Hechinger Report writes that the United States’ current ranking is down from a peak at second place as countries like Korea see large increases in the portion of 25- to 34-year-olds with college education when compared to prior generations.
- Australia has made significant gains by expanding access to student loans and allowing income-based repayment while other countries cap tuition and make direct subsidies, paying more with the expectation that college graduates will end up paying more in taxes in the long run.
Dive Insight:
The 2015 Education at a Glance report analyzes education inputs and outcomes in the 34 OECD countries as well as 12 partner countries. The report digs deeper into early childhood and post-high school education than it has in the past, providing information about social mobility, labor market outcomes, employer-sponsored education opportunities, and educational investment across the countries studied.
Besides graduation rates, the report finds a smaller percentage of study abroad students choose United States schools than they have in the past. While the actual number of international students in the United States is rising and 19% of the total number of international students study here, a greater portion than in the past are choosing schools elsewhere, especially in the UK, Australia, Russia, and Japan.