Fast Facts: International educational attainment (71)

International educational attainment

Question:
How does the educational attainment of the United States compare with other countries?

Response:

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a group of 38 countries¹ (as of 2022) whose purpose is to promote trade and economic growth. The OECD also collects and publishes an array of data on its member countries. This Fast Fact uses OECD data to compare educational attainment across countries using two measures: high school completion and attainment of any postsecondary degree.^{2, 3, 4} It focuses on how the United States compared with other OECD countries, both in terms of its educational attainment rates as of 2022 and changes in the rates since 2012.⁵ In this Fast Fact, for the United States, “high school completion” refers to individuals who have been awarded a high school diploma or an equivalent credential, such as the GED.⁶ Also, “attainment of any postsecondary degree” refers to individuals who have been awarded an associate’s or higher degree.⁷

In 33 of the 35 countries⁸ for which the OECD reported data on high school completion rates in both 2012 and 2022, the percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds who had completed high school as of 2022 was either higher than or not measurably different from the percentage as of 2012. The two exceptions were Germany and Sweden. During this period,

the OECD average percentage⁹ who had completed high school increased from 75 to 80 percent; and
the corresponding percentage for the United States increased from 89 to 92 percent.

Percentage of the population 25 to 64 years old who had completed high school, by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country: 2012 and 2022

The data in this figure is described in the surrounding text.

# Rounds to zero.
◇ No measurable difference.
¹ The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) was revised in 2011. Although data for 2012 were originally calculated using the 1997 version of ISCED, the footnoted countries revised their 2012 data to align with the 2011 version of ISCED.
² Data include some persons who completed a sufficient number of certain types of programs, any one of which individually would be classified as a program that only partially completes the high school (or upper secondary) level of education.
³ The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average refers to the mean of data values for all reporting OECD countries, to which each country reporting data contributes equally. The average includes all current OECD countries for which a given year's data are available, even if they were not members of OECD in that year.

NOTE: Of the 38 OECD countries, 36 are included in this figure. Data for New Zealand are available only for 2022. Chile and Japan are excluded because data are not available for these countries for 2012 and 2022. Data in this figure refer to degrees classified under ISCED 2011 as completing level 3 (upper secondary education) or to comparable degrees under ISCED 1997. In the United States, “high school completion” refers to individuals who have been awarded a high school diploma or an equivalent credential, such as the GED. ISCED 2011 was used to calculate data for 2022 for all countries. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Figures are plotted based on unrounded data. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding in the data labels.

In each of the 36 countries¹⁰ for which the OECD reported data on postsecondary attainment rates in both 2012 and 2022, the percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds who had earned any postsecondary degree was higher as of 2022 than as of 2012. During this period, these percentages increased

from 32 to 41 percent across OECD countries on average; and
from 43 to 50 percent in the United States.

Between 2012 and 2022, the percentage of 25- to 34-year-olds who had earned any postsecondary degree also increased

from 39 to 47 percent across OECD countries on average; and
from 44 to 51 percent in the United States.

The difference between the United States and the OECD average in postsecondary attainment for 25- to 34-year-olds as of 2022 (4 percentage points) was not measurably different from the difference as of 2012.

Percentage of the population 25 to 64 years old who had attained any postsecondary degree, by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country: 2012 and 2022

¹ The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) was revised in 2011. Although data for 2012 were originally calculated using the 1997 version of ISCED, the footnoted countries revised their 2012 data to align with the 2011 version of ISCED.
² Data include some postsecondary nondegree programs (i.e., awards that are below the associate's degree level).
³ The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average refers to the mean of data values for all reporting OECD countries, to which each country reporting data contributes equally. The average includes all current OECD countries for which a given year's data are available, even if they were not members of OECD in that year.

NOTE: Of the 38 OECD countries, 37 are included in this figure. Data for New Zealand are available only for 2022. Chile is excluded because data are not available for 2012 and 2022. Data in this figure refer to degrees classified under ISCED 2011 as tertiary (postsecondary) degrees, which correspond to all degrees at the associate’s level and above in the United States. Under ISCED 2011, tertiary degrees are classified at the following levels: level 5 (corresponding to an associate's degree in the United States), level 6 (a bachelor's or equivalent degree), level 7 (a master's or equivalent degree), and level 8 (a doctoral or equivalent degree). ISCED 2011 was used to calculate data for 2022 for all countries. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Figures are plotted based on unrounded data. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding in the data labels.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). International Educational Attainment. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved May 30, 2024, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cac.

The employment to population ratio of 25- to 64-year-olds is the number of persons in this age group who are employed as a percentage of the total civilian population in this age group. In 2022, this ratio was 75 in the United States, while the OECD average was 78. The table below provides detail by educational attainment.

Country	All levels of education	Less than high school completion	High school completion	Associate’s or higher degree
Employment-to-population ratios of 25- to 64-year-olds, by highest level of educational attainment and country: 2022
Country	Total population, 25 to 64 years old
OECD Average¹	77.9 (0.04)	59.4 (0.11)	76.8 (0.06)	86.4 (0.05)
United States	75.5 (0.14)	56.2 (0.61)	70.6 (0.25)	82.7 (0.19)

¹ The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average refers to the mean of data values for all reporting OECD countries, to which each country reporting data contributes equally.

NOTE: All data in this table were calculated using International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011. High school completion refers to completion of ISCED 2011 level 3 (upper secondary education); programs classified under ISCED 2011 as only partially completing level 3 are not included in the high school completion data except where otherwise noted. In this table, persons completing ISCED 2011 level 4 are also considered to have high school completion as their highest level of educational attainment. ISCED level 4 typically corresponds to postsecondary nondegree programs below the associate’s degree level in the United States. Associate’s or higher degrees include ISCED 2011 level 5 (corresponding to the associate’s degree in the United States), level 6 (bachelor’s or equivalent degree), level 7 (master’s or equivalent degree), and level 8 (doctoral or equivalent degree). For each country, the employment to population ratio of 25- to 64-year-olds is the number of persons in this age group who are employed as a percentage of the total civilian population in this age group. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Table 603.90. Employment-to-population ratios of 25- to 64-year-olds, by sex, highest level of educational attainment, and country: 2022 [Data table]. In Digest of education statistics. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved May 30, 2024, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_603.90.asp.

¹ Although data for Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Peru, and Romania are not currently reported in this Fast Fact, as of June 2022 these countries have adopted accession roadmaps to become OECD members. For more information on the OECD accession process, see https://www.oecd.org/about/members-and-partners/.
² For general technical notes related to data analysis, data interpretation, rounding, and other considerations, please refer to the Condition of Education Reader's Guide.
³ Attainment data in this Fast Fact refer to comparable levels of degrees, as classified by the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). ISCED was revised in 2011. The previous version, ISCED 1997, was used for all years prior to 2015, unless a country revised its historical data to align with the 2011 version of ISCED. Data using the ISCED 2011 classification may not be directly comparable to data using the ISCED 1997 classification. For additional information, please see https://www.oecd.org/education/isced-2011-operational-manual-9789264228368-en.htm.
⁴ Attainment rates refer to the percentage of the population who had completed a certain level of education by the year of data collection, rather than the percentage who completed education in a particular year only. For more information on how OECD defines educational attainment and what data are available, see https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-attainment/indicator-group/english_025421e5-en.
⁵ Throughout this Fast Fact, data are reported for all current Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries as of 2022 for which a given year’s data are available, even if they were not members of the OECD in that year.
⁶ In this Fast Fact, data on high school completion refer to degrees classified as ISCED 2011 level 3, which generally corresponds to high school completion in the United States, with some exceptions.
⁷ Under ISCED 2011, postsecondary, or tertiary, degrees are classified at the following levels: level 5 (corresponding to an associate’s degree in the United States), level 6 (a bachelor’s or equivalent degree), level 7 (a master’s or equivalent degree), and level 8 (a doctoral or equivalent degree). The structure of education differs across countries and not all countries have significant numbers of awards at each of these degree levels.
⁸ New Zealand is excluded because data are not available for 2012. Chile and Japan are excluded because data are not available for these countries for 2012 and 2022.
⁹ Throughout this Fast Fact, the “OECD average” refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting OECD countries as of 2022, to which each country reporting data contributes equally. Countries whose data are not available for a given year are not included in the OECD average for that year.
¹⁰ New Zealand is excluded because data are not available for 2012. Chile is excluded because data are not available for 2012 and 2022.

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