A Comparison of Education Worldwide: OECD’s Education at a Glance 2018 Report

Title: Education at a Glance 2018

Source: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released its Education at a Glance 2018 report, which discusses educational indicators ranging from early childhood to doctoral education. In the realm of higher education, the report covers topics related to attainment, access, institutional expenditures, and workforce development, among others. An accompanying brief to the report, Country Note, highlights each OECD nation’s educational indicators.

The U.S. version of the Country Note compared numerous U.S. educational data points to the OECD averages. One key finding was that 25- to 34-year-olds in the United States had a higher level of associate and bachelor’s educational attainment but lagged in graduate educational attainment when compared to the OECD average.

Additionally, students in the United States were about twice as likely to be enrolled part time, which the OECD suggests might be explained by students working while enrolled to offset high education costs and anticipated student loan debt.