1. The State of Education Series
Tertiary
Education
A Global Report
Author: Jennifer Klein
EdStats Team Leader: Emilio Porta
September 2011
2. Tertiary Education: Indicators
This presentation includes data on:
Gross Enrollment Rates (GER) for pre-
primary and tertiary
Correlations between GDP per capita and
enrollment rates for each educational level
Income/Gender/Location Disparities
Expenditures on Tertiary Education
3. Acronym Guide
Acronym Name
EAP East Asia and Pacific
ECA Europe and Central Asia
LAC Latin American and the Caribbean
MNA Middle East and North Africa
SAS South Asia
SSA Sub-Saharan Africa
WLD World (Global Aggregate)
FTI Education for All Fast Track Initiative Countries
IDA International Development Association
GER Gross Enrollment Rate
GDP p.c. Gross Domestic Product per capita
NAR Net Attendance Rate
Gender Parity Index (female value/male
GPI
value)
5. How many youth are enrolled?
Tertiary – Gross Enrolment Rates (GER)
Almost ¾ of tertiary age youth around the world
Just over ¼ of tertiary are not enrolled in tertiary education.
age youth were enrolled 60
in tertiary education
2009 (27%). This figure
Gross Enrolment Rate. Tertiary (ISCED 5 & 6). Total (%)
was a 9 percentage 50
point improvement over
1999 (18%).
40
ECA has consistently
had the highest tertiary
GERs of any region. 30
25.9 27.1
Over half (55%) of 22.5
24.0
tertiary age youth were
20
enrolled in 2009 which is 18.1
20.0
a 19.2 percentage point
increase over 1999. 10
SSA lags behind other
regions with 3.9% of 0
youth enrolled in 1999 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
and 6.3% in 2009. EAP ECA LAC MNA SAS SSA WLD
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, July 2011
Note: SAS 2009 is 2008 data.
6. Which countries have the lowest
tertiary enrollment rates?
8 of 10 countries are in 10 Countries with the Lowest
SSA. Only 4 countries of Tertiary Gross Enrollment Rates
the top 20 are not in SSA (2007-2010)
(Dominica, Djibouti, Afgh 1 Niger 1.43
anistan and Pakistan).
#10 Ethiopia’s GER more 2 Eritrea 1.98
than doubles the GER of 3 Chad 2.00
#1 Niger.
4 Central African Republic 2.46
9 countries have tertiary
GERs higher than 80% 5 Burundi 2.68
and 4 countries have 6 Burkina Faso 3.41
tertiary GERs higher than
90%: Greece, South 7 Dominica 3.46
Korea, Finland and 8 Djibouti 3.47
Cuba. Cuba’s GER is
117%. 9 Madagascar 3.58
10 Ethiopia 3.60
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Aug. 2011
Notes: Figures are most recent year with data between 2007-2010. Maroon =
2008; Black = 2009; Blue = 2010. Data was not available for 74 countries.
7. Which countries have improved
tertiary enrolment rates the most?
These countries have 10 Countries with the Most
improved their tertiary Improvement in Tertiary
gross enrolment rates Enrollment Rates
by 29 to 95
Percentage
percentage points Points
2000
NER
2009
NER
%
Improved
Improved
between 2000 and
2009. 1 Cuba 95.5 22.3 117.8 428.1
6 countries more than 2 Venezuela, RB 49.8 28.4 78.2 175.2
doubled their 2000 3 Romania 43.0 24.0 67.1 179.0
tertiary GER – Cuba, 4 Greece 39.6 51.2 90.8 77.4
Venezuela, Romania,
Macao, Cyprus, and 5 Macao SAR, China 36.2 26.7 62.9 135.6
the Czech Rep. 6 Cyprus 32.4 19.6 52.0 165.8
All of the countries 7 Ukraine 32.2 48.9 81.1 65.7
are in LAC or ECA 8 Slovenia 32.0 55.6 87.6 57.7
except Macao SAR,
9 Czech Republic 31.4 29.4 60.9 106.9
China.
1
Lithuania 29.2 50.4 79.5 57.9
0
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Sept. 2011;
Notes: Greece 2009 NER is 2007 data; Data were not
8. Tertiary Gross Enrollment Rate (%)
(2007-2010)
Country-Land
GERS
< - 40
40 - 70
> - 70
No data available
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2011
Note: Data displayed is for the latest available year
The maps displayed were produced by EdStats. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any
other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any
judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
The maps are for reference only.
9. Do countries with higher GDP p.c.
have higher tertiary enrollments?
Countries with a GDP pc higher than $15,000
Most countries with generally have tertiary GERs higher than 50%.
120
GDP pc less than Cuba R² = 0.168
$1000 have tertiary 110
Gross Enrollment Rate. Tertiary (ISCED 5 & 6). Total (2007-2010)
GERs less than 15%. 100
Korea, Rep.
Finland
Ukraine is one 90 Greece
exception with a GER Ukraine
80
of 81%; Mongolia
(53%), Moldova 70
(38%), Tajikistan (20%) 60
are three other
50
examples of low income
countries with higher 40
GERs. 30
United Arab Emirates
Countries with GDP pc 20
more than $15,000 Andorra Qatar
10
have tertiary GERs
Dominica
higher than 50% except 0
for 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Andorra, UAE, Qatar, B GDP per capita in thousands (constant 2000$)
ermuda, and Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, July 2011
10. Which regions have reached gender
parity in tertiary enrollments?
Globally, the gender Gender disparities in tertiary enrolment rates vary
parity index (GPI) for greatly across regions.
1.30
tertiary enrollments has
been increasing from 1.25
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Rate. Tertiary
0.98 in 1999 to 1.08 in 1.20
2009. The global female 1.15
GER is now higher than 1.10 1.07 1.08
the global male GER. 1.05
1.05
1.02
1.00
MNA is the only region 1.00
within +/- 0.05 of gender 0.95
0.98
parity in 2009.
0.90
LAC and ECA have 0.85
consistently had higher 0.80
female GERs, and EAP
0.75
has reversed from a male
bias to a female bias. 0.70
0.65
SAS and SSA have
0.60
remained stagnant over
time with a male bias in 0.55
1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
tertiary enrolments.
WLD EAP ECA LAC MNA SAS SSA
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, August 2011
Note: SAS for 2009 is 2008 figure.
11. Does gender parity exist in tertiary
enrollments in most countries?
Many countries have higher female enrolment rates
Only 11 countries are than male enrolment rates in tertiary education.
within +/-0.05 of 6.5
gender parity in
6.0
tertiary enrollments.
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Ratio. Tertiary
5.5
64% of countries have
a female bias in 5.0
tertiary enrolments. 4.5
Many of these
countries are in LAC 4.0
or are high income 3.5
countries.
3.0
In 8 countries, the
2.5
female GER more
than doubles the male 2.0
GER. These countries 1.5
Female Bias
are island nations in
1.0
LAC and Qatar.
0.5
Male Bias
0.0
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, August, 2011
Note: Data points are the most recent year with data available (2007-
2010)
12. Which countries have the largest gender
disparities in tertiary enrolments?
10 Countries with the Largest Female 10 Countries with the Largest Male Bias
Bias in Tertiary Enrolments in Tertiary Enrolments
(2007-2010) (2007-2010)
1 Qatar 6.31 1 Chad 0.17
2 Dominica 3.22 2 Congo, Rep. 0.21
3 St. Lucia 2.58 3 Afghanistan 0.24
4 Bermuda 2.56 4 Ethiopia 0.31
5 Jamaica 2.22 5 Eritrea 0.33
6 Antigua and Barbuda 2.21 6 Guinea 0.34
7 Cayman Islands 2.16 7 Congo, Dem. Rep. 0.35
8 St. Kitts and Nevis 2.10 8 Niger 0.36
9 Iceland 1.92 9 Mali 0.41
10 United Arab Emirates 1.89 10 Tajikistan 0.41
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Aug. 2011; Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Aug. 2011;
Notes: Blue figures are 2010 data; Black=2009; Maroon=2008; Notes: Blue figures are 2010 data; Black=2009; Maroon=2008;
Data were not available for 77 of 213 countries. Data were not available for 77 of 213 countries.
13. Do gender, income, or location disparities
exist in post-secondary attendance ratios?
Levels of gender Income is the largest source of disparity in post-
disparity in post- secondary gross attendance ratios in all regions.
secondary attendance 35
Gender disparity
are much lower than
Percentage Point Difference in Gross Attendance Ratio. Post-Sec.
Location disparity
Income disparity
levels of location and 30
(Male-Female, Urban-Rural, and Quintile 1-Quintile 5)
income disparity. More
girls than boys attend 25
post-secondary schools
in EAP, ECA, and LAC. 20
Rural areas have
15
between 5 (SSA) and 15
(LAC) percent lower
10
attendance ratios than
urban areas.
5
Income is the largest
source of disparity 0
across regions. Income
disparities range from 8
-5
percentage points in EAP ECA LAC MNA SAS SSA
SSA to 34 in LAC.2 Source: Estimated by Porta (2011) using data from Demographic and Health
Surveys, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, and Living Standards
Measurement Studies for 1985-2007
15. Which regions spend more per
student on tertiary education?
Countries on average
spend 57.7% of GDP
Public Expenditure per Tertiary
per capita per tertiary
education student. Student as a % of GDP per capita
(2007-2010)
SSA countries have the
highest average per EAP ECA LAC MNA SAS SSA IDA FTI WLD
student spending
(181.9%) and a large Average 32.3 27.5 27.3 31.6 81.9 181.9 146.6 121.1 57.7
range between the
countries with the lowest Median 22.3 25.2 26.2 21.7 55.5 139.5 118.4 102.9 27.2
(16.7%) and highest
Maximum 92.7 62.2 58.8 71.1 150.4 520.4 520.4 429.4 520.4
(520.4%) levels of per
student spending. Minimum 9.5 7.4 12.1 10.2 39.8 16.7 17.3 11.2 7.4
The next closest region # of
to SSA is SAS at 81.9%. Countries 13/ 38/ 14/ 8/
3/8
17/ 22/ 19/ 95/
with 31 53 38 21 47 62 43 201
All other regions have data/Total
average per student Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, July 2011
Note: Figures are for the most recent year with data available (2007-2010)
spending ranging
between 27.3% (LAC)
and 32.3 (EAP).
16. Which countries spend the least per
student on tertiary education?
Half of the countries are 10 Countries with the Lowest Share of
in ECA. p.c. GDP per Tertiary Student
(2007-2010)
5 of these countries
spend more on primary Share of Ratio of Ratio of
Tertiary
Private
pc GDP for Tertiary to Tertiary to Enrollment
and secondary than tertiary Primary Secondary
GER
Share (%)
tertiary (less than 1.0). 2
countries (El Salvador 1 Armenia 7.4 0.42 0.26 50.1 22.8
and Philippines) spend 2 Kazakhstan 7.9 39.5 47.3
less on primary and 3 Liechtenstein 9.2 0.85 0.48 34.7 100.0
secondary than tertiary.
4 Philippines 9.5 1.06 1.05 28.7 65.9
Korea, Rep. has the 5th
5 Korea, Rep. 10.1 0.52 0.44 100.0 80.4
lowest spending level,
but has a 100% gross 6 Lebanon 10.2 52.5 56.0
enrollment rate. The 7 Georgia 11.2 0.77 0.74 25.8 28.5
Russian Federation also
8 Chile 12.1 0.82 0.76 54.8 78.0
has a high GER (77.2%)
despite low spending. 9 El Salvador 13.7 1.61 1.51 24.6 66.4
6 of 10 countries have 10 Russian Fed. 14.2 77.2 14.2
private enrollment shares Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, July 2011
Note: Figures are for the most recent year with data available:
higher than 56%. Blue figures are for 2007; Green for 2008; Black for 2009;
Beige for 2010; Data were not available for 106 countries.
17. Which countries spend the most per
student on tertiary education?
All countries except 10 Countries with the Highest Share of
Bhutan are in SSA. p.c. GDP per Tertiary Student
These countries spend (2007-2010)
from 140% to 520% of Share of Ratio of Ratio of
pc GDP for Tertiary to Tertiary to
Tertiary
Private
Enrollment
NER
GDP per capital per tertiary Primary Secondary Share (%)
tertiary student, but all 1 Burundi 520.4 24.7 8.8 2.7 53.0
have gross enrollment 2 Niger 429.4 15.2 7.6 1.4 25.0
rates less than 8%.
3 Burkina Faso 307.1 10.6 10.2 3.4 17.8
All countries spend
drastically more per 4 Botswana 251.5 20.3 6.7
tertiary student than 5 Chad 212.8 17.1 9.0 2.0 31.8
per primary or
6 Rwanda 211.7 27.0 6.5 4.8 64.2
secondary student. For
example, Rwanda 7 Senegal 195.6 9.2 7.6 8.0 29.8
spends 27 times more 8 Togo 155.2 11.9 8.1 5.3
per student on tertiary
than primary. These 9 Bhutan 150.4 21.0 4.8 6.6
countries seem to 10 Madagascar 139.5 18.6 12.6 3.6 22.2
prioritize spending on Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, July 2011
tertiary education over Note: Figures are for the most recent year with data available:
Blue figures are for 2007; Green for 2008; Black for 2009;
other levels. Beige for 2010; Data were not available for 106 countries.
18. Public Expenditure per pupil as a %
of GDP per capita. Tertiary
(2007-2010)
Country-Land
EXPENTER
< - 40
40 - 100
100 - <
No data available
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2011
Note: Data displayed is for the latest available year
The maps displayed were produced by EdStats. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any
other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any
judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
The maps are for reference only.
19. Which countries spend the least on
tertiary compared to primary?
10 Countries with the Lowest Ratio of
7 of 10 countries are in Tertiary to Primary Per Student
ECA and 2 are in EAP. Expenditures as a % of GDP pc
(2007-2010)
5 countries have private
Ratio of Ratio of
enrolment shares higher Share of pc
GDP for tertiary
Tertiary to Tertiary to
than 77%, which seems Primary Secondary
to show that the private 1 Armenia 7.4 0.42 0.26
sector compensates for 2 Korea, Rep. 10.1 0.52 0.44
the lower levels of public 3 Latvia 17.5 0.60 0.61
funding of tertiary
education. 4 Poland 16.6 0.68 0.75
5 Serbia 40.1 0.70 2.95
Armenia and Korea, Rep.
spend half as much per 6 Georgia 11.2 0.77 0.74
tertiary student than per 7 Chile 12.1 0.82 0.76
primary student.
8 Liechtenstein 9.2 0.85 0.48
Serbia and Thailand 9 Estonia 22.2 0.85 0.75
spend less on secondary
and tertiary compared to 10 Thailand 22.3 0.93 2.44
primary. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, July 2011
Note: Figures include data for the most recent
year (2007-2010) with data available.
20. Which countries spend the most on
tertiary compared to primary?
10 Countries with the Highest Ratio of
9 of 10 countries are in Tertiary to Primary Per Student
SSA. Expenditures as a % of GDP pc
(2007-2010)
The listed countries
Share of pc Ratio of Ratio of
spend from 14 to 27 GDP for Tertiary to Tertiary to
times more per tertiary tertiary Primary Secondary
student than per primary 1 Central African Rep. 124.1 27.34 7.69
student. 2 Rwanda 211.7 27.05 6.49
They also spend 3 Burundi 520.4 24.66 8.77
between 5 to 12 times 4 Bhutan 150.4 20.98 4.77
more per tertiary student
5 Botswana 251.5 20.31 6.69
than per secondary
student. 6 Madagascar 139.5 18.59 12.63
These data seem to 7 Chad 212.8 17.12 9.03
show that most of these 8 Niger 429.4 15.17 7.59
countries prioritize 9 Uganda 105.4 14.47 4.96
public funding of 1)
tertiary, 2) secondary, 10 Guinea 102.9 14.35 16.28
and finally 3) primary Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, July 2011
Note: Figures include data for the most recent
education. year (2007-2010) with data available.
21. Data Sources
This presentation utilizes the following data sources:
1) UNESCO Institute for Statistics data in the EdStats Query
The presentation was created with the most recent UIS data release that
included 2009 data for most indicators and 2010 data for some countries.
Indicators were calculated by UIS according to definitions available in the
EdStats Query.
Regional averages created for the expenditure analysis in slide 15 include all
countries in the geographic region – both developing countries and high-
income countries. Bermuda, Canada, and the United States are not included
in any of the aggregates.
2) Income/Gender/Location Disparity slides were based on data
and analysis extracted from:
Demographic and Health Surveys, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, and
Living Standards Measurement Studies for 1985-2007; Reports were
generated through ADePT Edu by Emilio Porta (2011).
Porta, Emilio, Gustavo Arcia, Kevin Macdonald, Sergiy Radyakin, and Misha
Lokshin. 2011. Assessing Sector Performance and Inequality in Education.
Washington, DC: World Bank.
22. The State of Education Series
The following State of Education presentations
are available on the EdStats website:
Topics: Educational Levels:
Access Pre-Primary Education
Quality Primary Education
Expenditures Secondary Education
Literacy Tertiary Education
Equity
Gender
