Phone Paing, Saahil Jaswal, and Jared Jeziorowski
Education matters. Quality education is an investment that empowers individuals and improves the welfare of society at large. It equips people with knowledge and ways to apply it to the world around them. There is no universal structure of education, but most countries share a similar structure that consists of some different stages. Formal education in the United States is an academic system of schooling which follows a structured progression: Elementary School, Middle school, Secondary School (also known as High School), and then Postsecondary Education. Elementary School is the first traditional stage of formal education, and in the U.S., it consists of five years of education (Grades 1 to 5). Then follows Middle School and Secondary School, which ends after the student finishes High School (Grade 12). “Tertiary Education” , “Higher Education” and “College” are all synonymous with Postsecondary Education. Postsecondary Education is the focus of this book and these terms will sometimes be used interchangeably. This final stage of formal education includes public and private universities, colleges, and other technical training institutes and vocational schools. Although almost everyone starts their education with elementary education, not everyone is equally equipped to progress through the postsecondary stages. Many variables can influence who attends college, who receives the most returns to education, and who successfully finishes college.
Global Trends in Educational Attainment
One might think rising college attendance is a uniquely Western phenomenon because many Western countries have achieved universal literacy since 1965 (UNESCO 2017). However, this rising trend in educational attainment is also true for the rest of the world. Over the years, there was a global proliferation of government-sponsored public education systems – the number of schools grew, and so did the number of children attending them. The world is more educated than ever before as the average years of schooling has increased from 0.49 years in 1870 to about 8.5 years in 2010. In developed countries, the 2010 average years of schooling is 11.94 years but developing countries have lower average years of schooling at 7.72 years (Lee and Lee, 2016). This suggests that the majority of people in the developing world had some form of elementary and some secondary education. For developed countries, an average 11.94 years of schooling suggests that almost everyone has completed their secondary education and some are pursuing postsecondary education (college/tertiary education). In summary, great progress was made towards the goal of a universal education. Globally, 36% of individuals aged 20-24 had no elementary education in 1970, but by 2015, this had fallen to 14% and if the trend continues, it is expected to fall to 1% by 2100. The share of the global population aged 20-24 with secondary education has grown from 36% in 1970 to