A century ago, people hotly debated what share of the population should complete high school. However, school attainment continued to rise and today just 14% of the youth population in OECD countries has not completed high school (and those who have not faces large labour-market penalties).
These days, the same debate centres around the share of the population that needs a post-secondary qualification – and who should pay for that. But people vote with their feet. This year’s edition of OECD’s Education at a Glance shows that in 2000 slightly more than a quarter of 25-34-year-olds had a tertiary degree and this has risen to nearly half today. A tertiary degree is not always a university qualification, though, in some countries advanced vocational qualifications are a popular alternative.
