Canada Ranked #1 on Most Educated Countries in the World

[Harvey Specter]

In the past 50 years, college graduation rates in developed countries have increased nearly 200%, according to Education at a Glance 2011, a recently published report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report shows that while education has improved across the board, it has not improved evenly, with some countries enjoying much greater rates of educational attainment than others. Based on the report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 developed countries with the most educated populations.

The countries with the most highly educated citizens are also some of the wealthiest in the world. The United States, Japan and Canada are on our list and also have among the largest GDPs. Norway and Australia, also featured, have the second and sixth-highest GDPs per capita, respectively. All these countries aggressively invest in education.

The countries that invest the most in education have the most-educated people. All of the best-educated countries, except for the UK, fall within the top 15 OECD countries for greatest spending on tertiary — that is, college or college-equivalent — spending as a percentage of GDP. The U.S. spends the second most and Canada spends the fourth most.

Interestingly, public expenditure on educational institutions relative to private spending by these countries is small compared with other countries in the OECD. While the majority of education is still funded with public money, eight of the countries on our list rely the least on public funding as a percentage of total education spending.

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The countries included here have had educated populations for a long time. While they have steadily increased the percentages of their populations with postsecondary educations, the increases are modest compared to developing countries. The U.S., Canada and Japan have had tertiary educational attainment above 30% since at least 1997. Poland, a recently developed country that is not on our list, had a tertiary educational rate of 10% in 1997. As of 2009, that rate had grown to 21%.

These are the 10 most educated countries in the world.

10. Finland
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 37%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): 1.8% (3rd lowest)
> GDP per capita: $36,585 (14th highest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 3.15% (10th lowest)

Finland is a small country relative to the other OECD members. The share of its adult population with some sort of postsecondary education, however, is rather large. This select group is reaching the end of its expansion. From 1999 to 2009, the number of college-educated adults increased only 1.8% annually — the third-smallest amount among all OECD countries. Finland is also one of only two countries, the other being Korea, in which the fields of social sciences, business and law are not the most popular among students. In Finland, new entrants are most likely to study engineering, manufacturing and construction.

9. Australia
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 37%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): 3.3% (11th lowest)
> GDP per capita: $40,719 (6th highest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 14.63% (3rd highest)

Australia’s population grew 14.63% between 2000 and 2009. This is the third-largest increase among OECD countries. Its tertiary-educated adult population is increasing at the much less impressive annual rate of 3.3%. Australia also spends the sixth-least amount in public funds on education as a percentage of all expenditures. The country also draws large numbers of international students.

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8. United Kingdom
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 37%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): 4.0% (9th highest)
> GDP per capita: $35,504 (16th highest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 3.47% (13th lowest)

Unlike most of the countries with the highest percentage of educated adults, the UK’s educated group increased measurably — more than 4% between 1999 and 2009. Its entire population only grew 3.5% between 2000 and 2009. One aspect that the UK does share with a number of other countries on this list is relatively low public expenditure on education institutions as a percentage of all educational spending. As of 2008, 69.5% of spending came from public sources — the fourth-smallest amount among OECD countries.

7. Norway
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 37%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): N/A
> GDP per capita: $56,617 (2nd highest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 7.52% (14th highest)

Norway has the third-greatest expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP, at 7.3%. Roughly 23% of that is spent on tertiary education. In Norway, more than 60% of all tertiary graduates were in a bachelor’s program, well more than the U.S., which is close to the OECD average of 45%. The country is one of the wealthiest in the world. GDP per capita is $56,617, second only to Luxembourg in the OECD.

6. South Korea
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 39%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): 5.3% (5th highest)
> GDP per capita: $29,101 (13th lowest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 3.70% (14th lowest)

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Korea is another standout country for its recent increase in the percentage of its population that has a tertiary education. Graduates increased 5.3% between 1999 and 2009, the fifth-highest among OECD countries. Like the UK, this rate is greater than the country’s recent population growth. Korea is also one of only two countries — the other being Finland — in which the most popular fields of study are not social sciences, business and law. In Korea, new students choose to study education, humanities and arts at the greatest rates. Only 59.6% of expenditures on educational institutions come from public funds — the second-lowest rate.

5. New Zealand
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 40%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): 3.5% (14th lowest)
> GDP per capita: $29,871 (14th lowest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 11.88% (8th largest)

New Zealand is not a particularly wealthy country. GDP per capita is less than $30,000, and is the 14th lowest in the OECD. However, 40% of the population engages in tertiary education, the fifth-highest rate in the world. The country actually has a rapidly growing population, increasing 11.88% between 2000 and 2009. This was the eighth-largest increase in the OECD. Part of the reason for the high rate of tertiary graduates is the high output from secondary schools. More than 90% of residents graduate from secondary school.

4. United States
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 41%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): 1.4% (the lowest)
> GDP per capita: $46,588 (4th highest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 8.68% (12th highest)

The U.S. experienced a fairly large growth in population from 2000 to 2009. During the period, the population increased 8.68% — the 12th highest among OECD countries. Meanwhile, the rate at which the share of the population with a tertiary education is growing has slowed to an annual rate of 1.4% — the lowest among the 34 OECD countries. Just 71% of funding for educational institutions in the country comes from public funds, placing the U.S. sixth-lowest in this measure. Among OECD countries, the largest share of adults with a tertiary education live in the United States — 25.8%.

3. Japan
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 44%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): 3.2% (10th lowest)
> GDP per capita: $33,751 (17th lowest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 0.46% (6th lowest)

In Japan, 44% of the adult population has some form of tertiary education. The U.S. by comparison has a rate of 41%. Japan’s population increased just 0.46% between 2000 and 2009, the sixth-slowest growth rate in the OECD, and the slowest among our list of 10. Japan is tied with Finland for the third-highest upper-secondary graduation rate in the world, at 95%. It has the third-highest tertiary graduation rate in the world, but only spends the equivalent of 1.5% of GDP on tertiary education — the 17th lowest rate in the OECD.

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2. Israel
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 45%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): N/A
> GDP per capita: $28,596 (12th lowest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 19.02% (the highest)

Although there is no data on the percentage of Israeli citizens with postsecondary education dating back to 1999, the numbers going back to 2002 show that growth is slowing dramatically compared to other countries. In fact, in 2006, 46% of adults ages 25 to 64 had a tertiary education. In 2007 this number fell to 44%. Only 78% of funds spent on educational institutions in Israel are public funds. The country is also only one of three — the other two being Ireland and Sweden — where expenditure on educational institutions as a proportion of GDP decreased from 2000 to 2008. Israel also had the largest increase in overall population, approximately 19% from 2000 to 2009.

1. Canada
> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 50%
> Avg. annual growth rate (1999 – 2009): 2.3% (5th lowest)
> GDP per capita: $39,070 (10th highest)
> Pop. change (2000 – 2009): 9.89% (10th highest)

In Canada, 50% of the adult population has completed tertiary education, easily the highest rate in the OECD. Each year, public and private expenditure on education amount to 2.5% of GDP, the fourth-highest rate in the world. Tertiary education spending accounts for 41% of total education spending in the country. In the U.S., the proportion is closer to 37%. In Israel, the rate is 22%. In Canada, nearly 25% of students have an immigrant background.

The 10 Most Educated Countries in the World - Yahoo! Finance

[xilley]

EH! Canada!

[Fappin]

America ranked #4?

[belka]

Originally Posted by Fappin

America ranked #4?

Go anywhere in the southern states. You'll see why.

[Hurricane]

Canada's rates, along with the UK, Australia, and New Zealand are artificially inflated by all the International students. America has a lot too, but I think their population offsets the impact.

I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing.

I am more intrigued by the fact that Japan is basically the only first world country left with a notably higher percentage of men than women graduating. J-housewives FTW.

Originally Posted by belka

Go anywhere in the southern states. You'll see why.

Think you misinterpreted his post...

[asian_XL]

GDP per capita: $39,070

I didn't know it's that low

[SkinnyPupp]

This thread

+

http://www.revscene.net/forums/66212...vancouver.html

=

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by Hurricane

Canada's rates, along with the UK, Australia, and New Zealand are artificially inflated by all the International students. America has a lot too, but I think their population offsets the impact.

Canada has ~1.6M post secondary students, with ~100K being international students.

I hardly think ~6% inflates the stats.

[Hurricane]

Originally Posted by taylor192

Canada has ~1.6M post secondary students, with ~100K being international students.

I hardly think ~6% inflates the stats.

More like 10% according to actual sources. But probably only led a 3-4 point overall difference, so who cares anyhow.

[dachinesedude]

whats the point? a lot of people still cant find decent paying jobs, so many people having post-secondary education just makes it less valuable

[G-spec]

Speaking of this issue, you know what I can't stand about this country (well I guess I should say government), it's when immigrants who are highly educated come here only to find out their degrees aren't worth shit..
We have people in our immigrant community who were professors even doctors back home, and here they are stuck doing random every day typical jobs, because which immigrant has years of time to waste and tens of thousands of dollars for school as soon as they move to a new country.

My dad for example had to endure 3 years of schooling and tens of thousands of dollars just to be allowed to do some of the stuff he used to do back home. And that's in the first few years of us moving to Canada when we needed every single fcking dollar just to get by.
I'm not saying Canada should fully embrace anyone with a diploma from another country, but the least you could do is not make the person jump through every single fucking hoop and hurdle possible to squeeze every dollar possible (getting a return on their investment I suppose you could call it) but nah this country absolutely LOVES milking immigrants. This is a bigger issue in smaller immigrant communities where a large support system doesn't exist on the scale the Asian and East Indian community have for their community.

[dinosaur]

cool. i always thought we was smart.

[InvisibleSoul]

I'm actually surprised at such numbers. You're telling me one out of every two random people in Canada have completed post-secondary education?

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by G-spec

Speaking of this issue, you know what I can't stand about this country (well I guess I should say government), it's when immigrants who are highly educated come here only to find out their degrees aren't worth shit..

My dad for example had to endure 3 years of schooling and tens of thousands of dollars just to be allowed to do some of the stuff he used to do back home. And that's in the first few years of us moving to Canada when we needed every single fcking dollar just to get by.

I appreciate where you're coming from, yet not all degrees are created equal. Plus some countries it is much easier to obtain a degree illegitimately. We cannot accredit all degrees worldwide, so some will have more hoops to jump through.

There are ways to accredit your credentials prior to immigrating, and requiring people to recertify is a good thing for Canadians to know we're getting the same quality we're used to from people educated in Canada.

The hardship of affording to go back to school while establish yourself here is part of immigrating. If you aren't willing to put in that time/effort/money, then perhaps our immigration system let you down by allowing you to immigrate here in the first place. This is why the Conservatives are tightening immigration.

As for milking immigrants - I've posted this several times: Canadians are subsidizing immigrants as they only provide ~80% of the cost to our society. There's lots of studies on this. Thus why the Conservatives are reforming immigration to cut that 20% loss.

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by dachinesedude

whats the point? a lot of people still cant find decent paying jobs, so many people having post-secondary education just makes it less valuable

Originally Posted by InvisibleSoul

I'm actually surprised at such numbers. You're telling me one out of every two random people in Canada have completed post-secondary education?

Yes. I thought the numbers were ~40%, yet its even increasing.

As stated above, I don't think its a good thing.

[EmperorIS]

Originally Posted by dinosaur

cool. i always thought we was smart.

[AWDTurboLuvr]

I wish it had data containing which were the top 3 most common degrees for Canada (like they did for Finland). It's not useful if all we're pumping out are art graduates.

[CP.AR]

[dinosaur]

Originally Posted by EmperorIS

[GLOW]

1st place in edu-ma-cation
last place in finding a decent job

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by G-spec

Speaking of this issue, you know what I can't stand about this country (well I guess I should say government), it's when immigrants who are highly educated come here only to find out their degrees aren't worth shit..
We have people in our immigrant community who were professors even doctors back home, and here they are stuck doing random every day typical jobs, because which immigrant has years of time to waste and tens of thousands of dollars for school as soon as they move to a new country.

My dad for example had to endure 3 years of schooling and tens of thousands of dollars just to be allowed to do some of the stuff he used to do back home. And that's in the first few years of us moving to Canada when we needed every single fcking dollar just to get by.
I'm not saying Canada should fully embrace anyone with a diploma from another country, but the least you could do is not make the person jump through every single fucking hoop and hurdle possible to squeeze every dollar possible (getting a return on their investment I suppose you could call it) but nah this country absolutely LOVES milking immigrants. This is a bigger issue in smaller immigrant communities where a large support system doesn't exist on the scale the Asian and East Indian community have for their community.

Do your eally want a doctor who bought his degree fom elsewhere came to Canada without any schooling from Canada and just accept him as a doctor? Sorry no we need to make sure ppl are ready to work under Canada Standards. Is part of immigrantions.

[MindBomber]

Originally Posted by Fappin

America ranked #4?

I'm surprised they ranked that high.

Originally Posted by GLOW

1st place in edu-ma-cation
last place in finding a decent job

Not true.

Although Vancouver has a number of relatively small sectors for people with related degrees to find work compared to other major cities, as a whole, there are great opportunities across Canada for people with the right degree.

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by MindBomber

Although Vancouver has a number of relatively small sectors for people with related degrees to find work compared to other major cities, as a whole, there are great opportunities across Canada for people with the right degree.

i agree, my comment was just me expressing my cynicism based on personal experience, especially in vancouver

add me to the list when i saw the US at #4

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

Do your eally want a doctor who bought his degree fom elsewhere came to Canada without any schooling from Canada and just accept him as a doctor? Sorry no we need to make sure ppl are ready to work under Canada Standards. Is part of immigrantions.

No one disagrees but the problem is there is no real path for doctors who come from other countries. Many end up going to the states were it is easier.

[drunkrussian]

i lived in the #1 and #2 most educated countries in my life, and yet i'm one dumbass mo'fucka' so this list is clearly wrong