In the past 50 years, college graduation rates in developed countries have increased nearly 200 percent. I was struck by a report:
Education at a Glance 2011 indicating the Top Ten "Most Educated" countries in the world based on the percentage of the population with a post secondary education. The report did not evaluate the quality of the education, however. These countries are:
10.
Finland where 37 per cent of the population has a postsecondary education. This grows at 1.8 per cent per year. Finnish students currently are more likely to study engineering, manufacturing and construction. Finland has the 14th highest GDP per capita in the world.
9.
Australia has the same percentage as Finland but a slightly faster growth rate of 3.3 per cent per annum. Australia also spends the
sixth-least amount in public funds on education as a percentage of all expenditures and has a very large number of international students. Australia's GDP is the 6th highest in the world.
8.
United Kingdom - 37 per cent of the population has a postsecondary education. Average. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): 4.0per cent. While, its GDP is the sixth highest, only 69.5% of spending came from public sources — the fourth-smallest amount among OECD countries.
7.
Norway is one of the wealthiest in the world GDP per capita is $56,617 (second in the OECD). - 37 per cent of the population has a postsecondary education - growth rate unknown
6.
South Korea: Pct. population with postsecondary education: 39% Graduates increased 5.3% between 1999 and 2009, -a rate greater than the country’s recent population growth.. In Korea, new students choose to study education, humanities and arts at the greatest rates. Only 59.6% of expenditures on educational institutions come from public funds — the second-lowest rate.
5. New Zealand: a small country that is not very wealthy GDP wise - yet it has a large percentage of the population (40%) having a post secondary education. Percentage growth rate is 3.5 per cent.
4. United States- contrary to some myths, the USA has a very high college educated population (41 per cent) but the growth has slowed to an annual rate of 1.4% —
the lowest among the 34 OECD countries. Anotehr fascinating fact: 71% of funding for educational institutions in the country comes from public fund, a higher percentage than the United Kingdom!
3. Japan- 44 per cent of Japanese student
s has some form of tertiary education
. Japan and Finland have the third-highest upper-secondary graduation rate in the world with 95 per cent of the population graduating from high school. While, it has the third-highest tertiary graduation rate in the world, but only spends the equivalent of 1.5% of GDP on tertiary education — the 17th lowest rate in the OECD.
2. Israel while
45% of the population have postsecondary education, that growth has slowed dramatically compared to other countries. Worse in 2006, 46% of adults had a tertiary education so . Only 78% of funds spent on educational institutions in Israel are public funds. The country is also only one of three — the other two being Ireland and Sweden — where expenditure on educational institutions as a proportion of GDP decreased Israel also had the largest increase in overall population, approximately 19% from 2000 to 2009.
1. Canada- Oh Canada tops the list! Half (50 per cent) of the adult population has completed tertiary education, easily the highest rate in the OECD with an annual growth rate of 2.5 per cent. Each year, public and private expenditure on education amount to 2.5% of GDP, the fourth-highest rate in the world. Tertiary education spending accounts for 41% of total education spending in the country. In the U.S., the proportion is closer to 37%. In Israel, the rate is 22%. In Canada, nearly 25% of students have an immigrant background.
