What Country Spends the Most on Education? (2024)

FAQs

What Country Spends the Most on Education? ›

Norway spent the most on education as a percentage of GDP at 6.4% followed by New Zealand at 6.3%, the United Kingdom at 6.2%, and the United States at 6.1 percent.

Norway and Chile reported the highest total expenditures on education institutions as a percentage of GDP (both 6.6 percent), followed by Israel and New Zealand (both 6.2 percent), the United Kingdom (6.1 percent), and the United States (6.0 percent).

At 4.96%, the United States spends a smaller percentage of its GDP on education than other developed nations, which average 5.59% of GDP in educational spending.

Part of the reason education spending has increased is because the number of children with disabilities has grown much faster than the general population of students, and schools are now required to educate them. Special education students cost, on average, about twice as much to educate as other students.

Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools in the United States were $800 billion in 2018–19 (in constant 2020–21 dollars). This amounts to $15,621 per public school pupil enrolled in the fall of that year.

In 2022, New York spent around 29,897 U.S. dollars per pupil on public elementary and secondary schools - the most out of any state. The District of Columbia, Vermont, New Jersey, and Massachusetts rounded out the top five states for elementary and secondary school expenditure per pupil.

The outlay for the education sector in the budget is looking up - increasing to ₹1,12,899.47 crore for the next fiscal year from ₹1,04,277.72 crore for fiscal 2023.

The most recent PISA results, from 2015, placed the U.S. an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, the U.S. ranked 30th in math and 19th in science.

The U.S. ranks near the bottom in a survey of students' math skills in 30 industrialized countries and many Americans are in denial. The same survey showed that one-third believed their own schools were excellent, but only one-sixth believed the same of other schools.

Today, the U.S. spends more on college than almost any other country, according to the 2018 Education at a Glance report, released this week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Does America have the best education? ›

For the most part, these publications and organizations agree the U.S. does, in fact, have the best system of higher education in the world. Almost all rank the U.S. system highest based on numerous factors, and American universities dominate the top 20 on every list.

Each year federal agencies receive funding from Congress, known as budgetary resources . In FY 2023, the Department of Education (ED) had $175.81 Billion distributed among its 10 sub-components. Agencies spend available budgetary resources by making financial promises called obligations .

The United States stays on top, as number one, in the Education Ranking in The 2020 Best Countries Report, a ranking and analysis project by U.S. News & World Report, BAV Group, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

United States. The United States takes the number one spot on the list due to its large number of prestigious universities and well-developed higher education system.

1. Massachusetts. Massachusetts has the best-ranked public schools in the United States and is the second-most educated state, just behind the District of Columbia. About 90.40% of Massachusetts adults have a high school diploma, and 42.90% have a Bachelor's degree or higher.

This ensures a variety of higher-education choices, from large research universities to small specialized institutions. On the other side of the coin, the states with the lowest percentage of bachelor's degrees are West Virginia at 24.1%, Mississippi at 24.8%, and Arkansas at 25.3%.

We've put together this infographic that compares the United States' education spend and performance versus eleven countries. The U.S. is the clear leader in total annual spending but ranks 9th in Science performance and 10th in Math.

US healthcare spending is much higher than anywhere else in the world, as this Statista chart shows. Yet, despite this, it lags behind other nations in several aspects such as life expectancy and health insurance coverage.

According to the World Bank's database, Japan is the OECD country that spends the least – 3.1% of GDP – on education, followed by Ireland with 3.4%.

When did US education start declining? ›

In the 1980s, economists puzzled by a decline in the growth of U.S. productivity realized that American schools had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. After rising every year for fifty years, student scores on a variety of achievement tests dropped sharply in 1967. They continued to decline through 1980.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the United States had the best-educated young people in the world, or pretty close to it.

United States is 19th in the overall Prosperity Index rankings. Since 2011, United States has moved down the rankings table by 1 place.

Finland School Hours

Typically, the Finnish school day starts anywhere from 9 to 9:45 a.m., and students typically spend only about five hours a day in the classroom. What's more, Finnish students typically have little to no homework.

The U.S. economy is the world's largest in terms of gross domestic product, and also the most technologically powerful. The country's most significant exports are computers and electrical machinery, vehicles, chemical products, food, live animals and military equipment.

Germany: offers free tuition for citizens as well as international students. Greece: offers free tuition for citizens as well as international students; however, all classes are taught in Greek. Iceland: offers free tuition for citizens as well as international students. Kenya: offers free tuition for citizens.

According to the OECD, students in Finland have the least amount of outside work and homework than any other student in the world. They spend only half an hour a night working on stuff from school. Finnish students also don't have tutors.

U.S. ranks near the bottom

On a scale of 0–1,000, the average score in math proficiency among education systems ranged from 592 in China to 326 in the Dominican Republic.

Does UK or US have better education? ›

Based on national average statistics, most children educated in a British style are a year or more ahead of their US counterparts in math and language.

New Jersey topped the list of states with the best public school system, according to a new report from Scholaroo. Findings revealed the Garden State offers the safest environment for its students and has the lowest dropout rate compared with all other states.

Neither system is better than the other, but in the world of education, it is important to develop an international awareness and acceptance of different learning approaches, cultures and knowledge.

Are you ready to discover your college program? Why is college so expensive? There are a lot of reasons — growing demand, rising financial aid, lower state funding, the exploding cost of administrators, bloated student amenities packages.

Florida ranks #1 in higher education and #14 in PreK-12. No other states collectively matched up to these rankings, according to "U.S. News & World Report."

Its findings across all 50 states led them to rank Texas as the 10th least educated state in the U.S. The Lone Star State was also found to have one of the least percentages of high-school diploma holders.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan, is known for its top-notch schools and universities. The educational attainment is unmatched by other American metro areas. The city has the most professional degree holders in the country, at 93%.

Massachusetts is the smartest state, with an average IQ of 104.3, making it 9 points higher than the national average. This is largely attributed to its world-renowned education system, which is renowned for producing some of the most intelligent minds in the country.

What is the most educated small town in America? ›

It also had the third-highest percentage of people with a bachelor's degree or higher at 56.2%, and the third-highest percentage with a high school diploma or higher at 96.6%. Overall, Lawrence was the most educated small city in the study.

A new world ranking of countries and their literacy rates puts the United States at 7th.

The states with the highest percentage of students not graduating on time were New Mexico (28.9%) and Oregon (23.3%). On-time graduation rates are lowest in Wheeler County, Oregon, where 74% of children fail to complete high school on time.

The percentage of the population age 25 and older with associate degrees rose from 9.5% to 10.5% between 2011 and 2021. Between 2011 and 2021, the percentage of people age 25 and older who had completed a bachelor's degree or higher increased by 7.5 percentage points from 30.4% to 37.9%.

According to a report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last year, a third of the 28 developed countries it gathered data for offer free college. And the only country that charges more for tuition than the U.S. is the United Kingdom.

The U.S. spends the fifth-highest amount per pupil compared to the 37 other OECD countries, behind Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, and Norway.

There are many possible reasons for that increase in healthcare prices: The introduction of new, innovative healthcare technology can lead to better, more expensive procedures and products. The complexity of the U.S. healthcare system can lead to administrative waste in the insurance and provider payment systems.

As our chart illustrates, U.S. per-capita healthcare spending (including public and private as well as compulsory and voluntary spending) is higher than anywhere else in the world, with second-placed Germany trailing quite far behind. On average, healthcare costs in the U.S. amounted up to $12,318 per person in 2021.

Finland. Finland has one of the best educational systems in the world. In areas like mathematics, science, and literacy, Finland has outperformed many well-known countries worldwide. Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences are the two types of colleges.

Which country has the highest education inequality? ›

Conversely, Australia, Slovakia and New Zealand rank as the most unequal in the world on a combined ranking of education inequality across pre-school, primary and secondary schooling. The report measured inequality in pre-school education by participation in pre-school in the year before primary school entry.

Known for its free or minimal cost of education, Iceland provides many advantages to international students. Starting from its vivid student experience, many study options, and world-renowned universities, Iceland has placed itself among the top cheap countries to study in terms of study costs.

THE REASON: California is spending less on education because of policy choices it has made. The state directs fewer resources to education than do other states, and its chosen tax sources are volatile, making education funding vulnerable during economic downturns.

Less than 1% of the $6.27 trillion annual federal budget could be used to make college free for all. A First-Dollar tuition free-program would cost $58 billion the year it is implemented.

According to data lab.usaspending.gov, the military budget is 11 percent ($755 billion) while spending on education is about 4 percent ($297 billion).

Education funding generally is inadequate and inequitable; It relies too heavily on state and local resources (particularly property tax revenues); the federal government plays a small and an insufficient role; funding levels vary widely across states; and high-poverty districts get less funding per student than low- ...

The school funding gap keeps getting worse

And the gap is widening. In 2016, public schools were underfunded by $46 billion a year (or $60 billion, when adjusted for inflation to 2020 dollars), the report said. By 2021, that annual deficit had grown by $25 billion.

Public school is free in the United States

The city, state, or federal government fund public schools so you do not have to pay. Education law says everyone has a right to free education. You don't have to be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident to register your child in school.

Free public education is typically provided from Kindergarten (ages 5 and 6) to 12th Grade (ages 17 and 18).

In the 1830s, Horace Mann, a Massachusetts legislator and secretary of that state's board of education, began to advocate for the creation of public schools that would be universally available to all children, free of charge, and funded by the state.

Is the US military budget the highest in the world? ›

Top Six Nations in Terms of Defense Outlays

The U.S. had by far the largest military budget at $767.8 billion in 2021, but China's outlay was also quite large at $270 billion. In comparison, the other four nations had more modest outlays, ranging from Saudi Arabia's $53.8 billion to India's $73.6 billion.

Although the majority of the defense department spending is devoted to military-related expenses, there are more usage in the defense budget; they are: Wages and salary. Military healthcare. Weapons maintenance.

U.S. defense spending increased by $71 billion from 2021 to 2022, in part due to a military aid sent to support Ukraine in its ongoing conflict, and the United States now spends more on defense than the next 10 countries combined (up from outspending the next 9 countries combined in 2021).