Education in States and Nations: 1991

(ESN) Indicator 21: Educational attainment of the population

The percentage of the population completing secondary and higher education in the U.S. states and other industrialized countries provides an indication of the skill level of the U.S. workforce compared to its economic competitors. Completion levels reflect both the availability of education in a country and the extent to which completion of certain levels of education is typical. However, because many working-age adults completed their education years ago, the indicator is influenced by the development of education systems over time. Countries or states where education systems have undergone major expansions only in recent years will still show a large proportion of adults with lower levels of educational attainment, and one would expect to find those in younger age groups educated to higher levels than those in older age groups.

• Among countries in 1991, the United States had the second highest percentage of individuals aged 25 to 64 who had completed at least an upper secondary education - 81 percent. Eighty-two percent of Germans between the ages of 25 and 64 completed at least that same level of education. For the other G-7 countries represented here, the proportions ranged from 28 to 76 percent.

• Among the six G-7 countries represented here, Germany, Canada, and the United States had the highest rates of upper secondary attainment among the younger cohort of 25- to 34-year-olds (at 88, 86, and 84 percent, respectively). The percentage for the United Kingdom was somewhat lower (at 79 percent), whereas those for France and Italy were much lower (at 66 and 43 percent, respectively).

• Of the G-7 countries, Canada had the highest percentage of higher education graduates (at both the non-university and university levels) in its 25- to 64-year-old population (40 percent) and the United States the next highest (30 percent). France and Italy had the lowest percentages (15 percent or lower).

• Among the six G-7 countries represented here, the United States had the highest rate of university graduation among 25- to 34-year-olds. The U.S. rate was double or triple the rates of France, Germany, Italy, or the United Kingdom.

• The states with the smallest proportions of their 25- to 64-year-old population having completed high school were Mississippi (70 percent) and Kentucky (72 percent). Those states' proportions, however, were still larger than the proportions of the population completing upper secondary degrees in 15 of the 20 other countries reported here.

Notes on interpretation:

Although the educational attainment of a population is an indicator of the current skill level of the workforce, it is not necessarily a measure of success in educating a large proportion of the population. Within the 25- to 64-year-old age group, there may be many who have moved out of the country or state where they received their education. Thus, particularly in some U.S. states, large segments of the resident population may have been educated elsewhere.

There are marked differences among countries with respect to whether certain programs are classified as belonging to the university, non-university, or upper secondary sector. For example, some programs that are begun subsequent to the completion of general secondary education are classified as non- university higher education in parts of Canada and the United States, whereas they are defined as upper secondary education in most other countries.

Table 20b

Figure 21a