Education at a Glance 2025: United States
Table of contents
This country note provides an overview of the key characteristics of the education system in the United States based on data from Education at a Glance 2025. In line with this year’s thematic focus, it emphasises tertiary education while also covering other parts of the education system. The data in this note are provided for the latest available year. Readers interested in the reference years for the data should refer to the corresponding tables in Education at a Glance 2025.
The United States invests substantially in education with total expenditure per student from primary to tertiary education at 20 387 USD (including research and development). This is higher than the OECD average of 15 022 USD. Moreover, education spending constitutes 5.8% of the United States’ gross domestic product compared to the OECD average of 4.7%.
Despite high investment in education, skills proficiencies among U.S. adults remain average relative to other OECD countries. More than one quarter of adults in the United States have a literacy Level 1 or below (on a scale of 0-5) in the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) – the same as the OECD average of 28%. At this level, individuals can only understand very short texts with minimal distracting information. Furthermore, mean literacy proficiency scores decreased across all age groups and all levels of education between 2012 and 2023.
Annual tuition fees for national students enrolled in bachelor's programmes at public institutions in the United States are the highest among OECD countries, averaging 9 596 USD per year. This rises sharply to 34 041 USD per year at private institutions, which is more than 2.5 times more expensive than the next highest average among OECD countries. To help cover these costs, nearly 82% of students receive aid in the form of public grants, scholarships, or public or government-guaranteed private loans.
Despite the high costs of tertiary education in the U.S., the financial returns to a tertiary education are higher than in any other OECD country. After accounting for the costs, the average lifetime net benefits to a tertiary education are 726 100 USD for a man and 511 400 USD for a woman, well above the OECD averages of 364 200 USD and 300 900 USD. Higher education is therefore a critical driver for financial success in the United States.
While an upper secondary qualification provides a wage premium for young adults in most OECD countries, this is not the case in the United States, where few viable alternatives to tertiary education exist as a pathway to strong earnings. Among 25-34 year-old Americans, those without a high school degree earn the same as their peers with a high school degree. Meanwhile, 25-34 year-olds with a bachelor’s degree earn approximately 57% more than their peers without tertiary education. This earnings premium continues to increase with age.
Relative teacher salaries in the United States are lower than in every other OECD country. Teachers of pre-primary to upper-secondary schools in the United States earn less than 60% of the average salary of similarly educated workers in the United States.
Participation of young children in pre-primary education is less common in the United States than in most other countries. In 2022, only 65% of 3-5 year-olds were enrolled in pre-primary education in the United States, a figure that has remained virtually unchanged since 2013. This enrolment rate is approximately 20 percentage points less than the OECD average.
Public education remains the cornerstone of the U.S. education system, with the vast majority of students attending public schools during their compulsory schooling years. In 2023, fewer than 10% of students at the primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary levels were enrolled in private institutions, below the OECD averages of 14.5%, 17.6%, and 22.7% for those respective levels.
Educational inequalities persist across generations. In all countries with available data, young adults (25-34 year-olds) are significantly more likely to attain a tertiary qualification if their parents have also done so. In the United States, 68% of 25-34 year-olds with at least one tertiary-educated parent have also attained a tertiary qualification, compared to only 22% among those whose parents did not complete upper secondary education. This tertiary-attainment gap of 46 percentage points is larger than the OECD average gap of 44 percentage points (Figure 1).
Survey of Adult Skills, in per cent
Note: The percentage in parentheses represents the share of tertiary-educated parents.
For data, see OECD (2025) Education at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/1c0d9c79-en, Table A1.4 (available on line).
The share of young adults (25-34 year-olds) without upper secondary attainment continues to decline across the OECD, reaching an average of 13%. This trend also continues in the United States, where the share fell from 7% to 6% between 2019 and 2023.
Individuals with greater educational attainment generally face a lower risk of unemployment and earn higher wages. Completing upper secondary education is particularly important in reducing the risk of unemployment. On average across the OECD, 12.9% of economically active young adults (25-34 year-olds) without an upper secondary qualification are unemployed, compared to 6.9% of those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment. Those who go on to gain a tertiary qualification see a relatively smaller further reduction in unemployment, with 4.9% of tertiary-educated young adults unemployed on average across the OECD. This pattern is similar in the United States (albeit at a lower level): 8.9% of young adults without an upper secondary qualification are unemployed, compared to 5.7% of those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment and 2.9% of those with tertiary attainment (Figure 2).
In per cent
For data, see OECD (2025) Education at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/1c0d9c79-en, Table A3.5.
On average, individuals with a master’s or equivalent degree have significantly higher employment rates and earnings than those with a bachelor’s or equivalent degree. However, the share of young adults (25-34 year-olds) attaining a master’s or equivalent qualification varies widely across OECD countries, ranging from 1% to 39% in 2024. In the United States, 11% of 25-34 year-olds hold a master’s or equivalent degree, which is below the OECD average of 16%. This represents a small increase since 2019, when the share was 10%.
The average wage gap between individuals (25-64 year-olds) with and without upper secondary educational attainment is relatively modest across OECD countries. On average across the OECD, workers without upper secondary qualifications earn on average 17% less than those who have completed upper secondary education, while workers with tertiary attainment earn 54% more than those with upper secondary attainment. In the United States, the wage gap between workers with and without upper secondary attainment is larger than the OECD average, at 21%. The gap between those with upper secondary and tertiary attainment is also larger than the OECD average, at 71%. This suggests a generally more dispersed wage distribution by educational attainment in the United States, which may indicate higher relative returns to education but also a higher level of income inequality compared to the OECD average.
In most OECD countries, a significant share of adults have low levels of literacy proficiency, defined as at or below Level 1 (on a scale of 0-5) in the OECD Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Individuals at this level can only understand very short texts with minimal distracting information. In the United States, 28% of 25-64 year-olds have literacy skills at or below Level 1, which is similar to the OECD average of 27%.
Educational attainment and skills are closely linked, although the strength of this relationship varies across countries. In the United States, tertiary-educated adults score, on average, 46 points higher in literacy proficiency than those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment in the Survey of Adult Skills. This gap is wider than the OECD average difference of 34 points.
Average literacy scores fell between Cycle 1 (2012-15) and Cycle 2 (2023) of the Survey of Adult Skills1. On average across OECD countries, the fall among adults with tertiary attainment was 9 score points, smaller than the average drop of 19 score points among adults without upper secondary qualifications. In the United States, average literacy scores for adults with tertiary attainment decreased by 10 points (from 298 to 287), while the score for adults without upper secondary attainment decreased by 29 points (from 214 to 184).
In the United States, as in all OECD countries, adults with better literacy skills are more likely to participate in education and training. In 2023, 85% of adults (25-64 year-olds) with high literacy proficiency (i.e. at or above Level 4) in the Survey of Adult Skills participated in formal and/or non-formal education and training in the last year, compared to just 36% of those with proficiency at or below Level 1.
Education systems must adapt to changes in the number of children by expanding or reducing provision accordingly. In many countries, the population of children aged 0-4 changed significantly between 2013 and 2023 and is projected to change further by 2033. The United States experienced a decline of 7% in the number 0-4 year-olds, and is projected to see virtually no change between 2023 and 2033.
The share of students in lower secondary education who are at least two years older than the expected age for their grade varies widely across OECD countries, ranging from virtually none in some countries to over 10% in others. In the United States, the share is in the middle of the OECD distribution in 2023, at 4.1%.
Bachelor’s or equivalent programmes are the main entry point into tertiary education in most OECD countries, with an average of 78% of those starting tertiary education for the first time enrolling in such programmes. In the United States, the share is lower at 53%.
Women make up the majority of first-time entrants to tertiary education in most OECD countries. In the United States, they accounted for 54% of first-time entrants in 2023, up from 53% in 2013. Across the OECD, women make up 54% of new entrants on average, the same share as in 2013.
Across the OECD, the two most popular broad fields of study are science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and business, administration, and law, each accounting for 23% of graduates from bachelor’s or equivalent programmes. They are closely followed by the broad field of arts and humanities, social sciences, journalism and information, at 22% of graduates. In the United States, 25% of bachelor’s degree students graduate from a STEM field, 19% from business, administration and law, and 30% from arts and humanities, social sciences, journalism and information.
International student mobility in tertiary education continues to rise across the OECD, with some countries experiencing substantial growth in the share of international students between 2018 and 2023. On average, 7.4% of all tertiary students across the OECD were international or foreign students, compared to 6% in 2018. The United States saw a modest increase, with the share rising from 5.2% to 5.3% (Figure 3).
In per cent
For data, see OECD (2025) Education at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/1c0d9c79-en, Table B4.3.
There are significant disparities in how much governments spend each year in education across OECD, partner and accession countries. The United States spends USD 14 603 per student from primary to post-secondary non-tertiary levels, placing it at the middle of the country range, which spans from less than USD 2 000 to more than USD 27 000 (Figure 4).
In equivalent USD converted using PPPs, expenditure on educational institutions
Note: Expenditure at tertiary level includes R&D. Expenditure per student in early childhood education is based on headcounts rather than full-time equivalent students. Expenditure at tertiary level for Luxembourg (USD 54 384) is not shown in the figure.
1. Year of reference differs from 2022.
2. Primary includes pre-primary education.
3. Includes payments by households outside educational institutions.
For data, see OECD (2025) Education at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/1c0d9c79-en, Table C1.1 and Table C1.2.
In contrast to most other countries, government expenditure in the United States is roughly the same at tertiary level, including research and development (R&D), than at primary to post-secondary non-tertiary levels. Government expenditure in the United States amounts to USD 14 046 per tertiary student compared to the OECD average of USD 15 102.
A large part of the disparity in expenditure per student across OECD, partner and accession countries reflects differences in national income levels. When expenditure is measured as a share of GDP, cross-country differences tend to be smaller, ranging from 2.5% of GDP to 6.9%. In the United States, education investment in primary to tertiary education stands at 5.8% of GDP, which is above the OECD average of 4.7% by this measure.
Governments are the primary source of education funding in all OECD countries, especially for the levels covered by compulsory education. In the United States, governments provide 92.4% of total funding for primary, secondary, and post-secondary non-tertiary education (after transfers to the private sector), which is above the OECD average of 90.4%. At the pre-primary and tertiary levels, private funding often plays a larger role. In the United States, 80.7% of pre-primary education funding (after transfers) and 38.7% of tertiary education funding (after transfers) come from public sources, compared to OECD averages of 85.6% and 67.4%, respectively.
Some countries impose significantly higher tuition fees on foreign students at master’s level in public institutions, including the United States. In the United States, average annual tuition fees for foreign students at master’s level are USD 20 328 on average, which is above the fees charged to national students (USD 12 596).
High teacher turnover can place additional pressure on recruitment, while very low turnover may limit the renewal of the teaching workforce. In most countries with available data, between 1% and 3% of teachers retire each year. However, the share of teachers leaving the profession for reasons other than retirement varies more widely, ranging from almost none in some countries to nearly 10% in others. the United States is among the countries with moderate turnover, with no further breakdown between retirements and resignations available (Figure 5).
In per cent, full-time and part-time, public institutions
1. Academic year 2021/22 for Denmark, England (UK), France and New Zealand.
2. Only primary education in Argentina. Excluding pre-primary education in Greece and Ireland. Excluding upper secondary education in Denmark and Israel. Excluding upper secondary vocational education in the Netherlands.
3. Includes non-fully qualified teachers.
4. Includes teachers who left the profession because they were appointed to other positions in the education sector.
For data, see OECD (2025) Education at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/1c0d9c79-en, Table D8.4.
Competitive salaries can make the teaching profession more attractive, particularly since teachers in many countries earn less than other tertiary-educated workers. In the United States, the actual salaries of primary teachers are 37% lower than those of tertiary-educated, full-time, full year workers, compared to an average of 17% lower across the OECD. However, increasing teacher salaries can be financially challenging, as staff costs make up the largest share of education expenditure (Figure 6).
Ratio of salaries to the earnings of full-time, full-year workers aged 25-64
Note: Data refer to the ratio of annual average salaries (including bonuses and allowances) of teachers and school heads in public institutions relative to the earnings of workers with similar educational attainment (weighted average) and to the earnings of full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education. Earnings of workers with similar educational attainment to teachers are weighted by the distribution of teachers (or school heads) by qualification level (see Tables X2.10 and X2.11). As values close to one may be difficult to identify in the figure, please refer to the source table.
1. Data on earnings for full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education refer to the whole country.
2. Year of reference for salaries of teachers differs from 2024.
For data, see OECD (2025) Education at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/1c0d9c79-en, Table D3.2.
Since 2015, actual average salaries of primary teachers have increased in real terms by 14.6% on average across the OECD. In the United States, they increased by 3.4% in 2024.
The amount of compulsory instruction time affects teacher salary costs as it influences the number of teachers needed, combined with other factors such as class size and teaching time of teachers. In the United States, students receive 974 hours of compulsory instruction per year in primary education and 1 023 hours in lower secondary education. This is above the OECD average of 804 hours in primary and 909 hours in lower secondary education.
Across the OECD, the average class size at primary level has not changed since 2013, at 20.6 students. In the United States, the average class size in primary education in 2023 was 20.1 students, down by 1.1 since 2013.
Countries use a range of admission systems to tertiary public education institutions. These vary as to whether admission is open or selective, and whether applications are submitted directly to institutions or to a central body. In the United States, admission is open for some programmes and selective for others. Applicants submit their applications directly to institutions.
In most countries, academic staff salaries vary significantly by seniority. Staff in junior academic positions often earn well below the average salary for tertiary-educated, full-time, full year workers, while staff in senior positions — such as full professors — typically earn well above this average. In the United States, junior academic staff earn 31% less than workers with at least a bachelor’s or equivalent degree, while senior academic staff earn 18% more.
For more information on Education at a Glance 2025 and to access the full set of indicators, see: https://doi.org/10.1787/1c0d9c79-en.
For more information on the methodology used during the data collection for each indicator, the references to the sources and the specific notes for each country, see Education at a Glance 2025: Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes, https://doi.org/10.1787/fcfaf2d1-en.
For general information on the methodology, please refer to the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304444-en.
Updated data can be found on line at http://data-explorer.oecd.org/ and by following the StatLinks in the publication.
Explore, compare and visualise more data and analysis using the Education GPS: https://gpseducation.oecd.org/.
Questions can be directed to the Education at a Glance team at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills: EDU.EAG@oecd.org.
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.
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The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
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← 1. Does not include adults who in Cycle 2 were only administered the doorstep interview due to a language barrier.