EDUCATION INDICATORS: An International Perspective

Indicator 6: Enrollment in Upper Secondary or Higher Education

The percentage of 17- to 24-year-olds enrolled in upper secondary or higher education not only indicates the extent to which these cohorts of young adults participate in noncompulsory formal education, but also reveals how educational participation varies among these age groups. Cross-country variations in educational participation for these cohorts reflect, among other things, differences in the structure of upper secondary and higher education and in programs offered at these levels. For instance, previous indicators of student enrollment revealed that the former West Germany had a higher enrollment rate in upper secondary education but a lower enrollment rate in higher education than did the United States. However, when upper secondary and higher education are combined, the relatively high enrollments in U.S. higher education are overshadowed by the relatively high upper secondary enrollments in the former West Germany. Consequently, Indicator 6 shows a consistently higher level of educational enrollment in the former West Germany than in the United States across all the cohorts aged 17-24.

In the United States, about 74 percent of 17-year-olds were enrolled in high school or higher education in 1992. The enrollment rate gradually declined with age; the corresponding enrollment rate for 24-year-olds was about 8 percent. With few exceptions, this pattern of decline with age in enrollment rates existed for almost every country reported.
The enrollment rates for upper secondary or higher education in the former West Germany, Canada, and France were consistently higher than the corresponding enrollment rates for the United States across all the age cohorts. In the United Kingdom, the corresponding enrollment rates were significantly lower than those of their counterparts in the United States.

Table 6: Percentage enrolled1 in upper secondary or higher education,2 by age and country: 1992

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						    Age  
                         ----------------------------------------------------------
                                          
Country	 		17 	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
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G-73
Canada                  80.2    60.8    47.0    47.6    28.4   21.4    14.3     9.6
France                  84.9    77.9    64.6    46.6    33.5   23.8    15.8    10.1
West Germany (former)   81.7    82.8    61.1    41.2    31.1   36.8    18.7    18.4
United Kingdom          56.7    33.6    23.9    19.5    13.7    8.1     5.2     3.7
United States           74.0    54.0    42.4    32.9    28.3   19.6    12.6     8.4
Other
Australia		72.0	42.5	29.9	23.0	13.6	9.0	6.3	4.6
Belgium                 90.6    75.2    59.6    43.9    31.1   20.0    11.5     6.6
Czech Republic		39.4	17.0	14.4	12.4	12.4	9.6	1.4	1.4
Denmark                 73.8    68.5    53.1    41.2    34.7   31.2    26.3    24.2
Finland                 85.2    81.7    39.5    36.3    40.3   40.1    33.2    27.0
Hungary			45.4	18.2	14.2	12.9	10.0	7.8	5.4	3.2
Ireland                 76.5    57.5    39.1    29.6    19.4   11.1     6.1     4.0
Netherlands             74.7    73.4    61.5    48.5    38.7   28.0    21.6    16.2
New Zealand             65.2    38.8    29.6    24.8    19.3   12.1     7.5     5.2
Norway                  86.7    77.7    48.6    36.9    33.4   30.3    26.0    21.1
Spain                   67.3    53.8    44.8    42.7    34.0   27.9    19.3    14.0
Sweden                  86.9    60.8    24.3    16.5    16.1   27.9    13.7    12.5
Switzerland             77.8    74.7    52.6    29.5    20.5   17.0    14.6    12.4
Turkey                  32.2    26.1    18.2    15.1     8.8    7.2     5.6     4.1
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1/ Full-time students only. The indicator does not reflect overall rates of education participation for those
countries that distinguish part-time from full-time enrollments.
2/ Includes nonuniversity and university higher education.
3/ No data available for Italy and Japan.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, International Indicators Project, 1995.

Figure 6: Percentage enrolled in upper secondary or higher education, by age and G-7 country:* 1992
*No data available for Italy and Japan.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, International Indicators Project, 1995.

See supplemental notes to Indicator 3.

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