OECD on U.S. Higher Ed: High Spending, Varied Outcomes, and Persistent Equity Gaps

Title: Education at a Glance 2024 – Country Notes: United States

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s annual report Education at a Glance examines participation, investment, operational frameworks, and outcomes within education systems globally. This analysis includes various performance indicators, ranging from student achievement in critical subject areas to the influence of education on earnings and employment opportunities for adults. The U.S. country note from the 2024 edition provides a detailed look at the key features of the American education system, emphasizing equity issues, a central theme of this year’s report.

Key findings are summarized below:

• There is a high attainment rate among young adults, with 94 percent of 25-34-year-olds having achieved at least an upper secondary, or high school, education in 2023. This is 8 percentage points higher than the OECD average and marks a 3 percentage point improvement from 2016.
• However, the share of 18–24-year-olds who are not in education, employment, or training was 14 percent in 2023, with two-thirds of these individuals inactive and one-third unemployed.
• Employment rates for foreign-born adults surpass those of native-born adults across nearly all educational levels, except tertiary education. Notably, foreign-born adults with less than upper secondary education have a 68 percent employment rate, significantly higher than the 46 percent rate among their native-born counterparts.
• The influence of family background on tertiary education completion is evident, with first-generation immigrant students showing a completion rate of 82 percent by 2017 for programs started in 2012—higher than both non-immigrant students and the OECD average. However, disparities exist based on parental education, with a 20 percentage point difference in completion rates between students who have a parent with tertiary education and those whose parents have less education.
• The U.S. investment per student averages $20,387 across all educational levels, markedly higher than the OECD average of $14,209, although this figure varies widely across different states.
• Students at private tertiary institutions in the U.S. face the highest tuition fees among OECD countries. However, 80 percent of U.S. students received financial aid in the form of public grants, scholarships, or public or government-guaranteed private loans for the 2019-20 school year, the fourth-highest share among OECD countries with available data.

Click to read the full country note and the full report.

—Nguyen DH Nguyen