At the combined elementary and secondary level in 2005, the United States spent $9,769 per student, which was 38 percent higher than the OECD average of $7,065. At the postsecondary level, U.S. expenditures per student were $24,370, more than twice as high as the OECD average of $11,821.

Two measures used when comparing countries' investments in education are expenditures per student from both public and private sources and total education expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). The latter measure allows a comparison of countries' expenditures relative to their ability to finance education. Private sources include payments from households for school-based expenses such as tuition, transportation fees, book rentals, or food services, as well as funds raised by institutions.

In 2005, expenditures per student for the United States were $9,769 at the combined elementary and secondary level, which was 38 percent higher than the average of $7,065 for the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reporting data (see table A-37-1). This measure is based on (full-time equivalent [FTE]) student enrollment rather than headcount. At the postsecondary level, U.S. expenditures per student were $24,370, which was more than twice as high as the OECD average of $11,821. Expenditures per student varied widely across the OECD countries, ranging from $2,025 in Mexico to $15,930 in Luxembourg at the combined elementary and secondary level, and from $5,593 in Poland to $21,734 in Switzerland and $24,370 in the United States at the postsecondary level.

Among the OECD countries reporting data in 2005, the countries that spent the highest percentage of their GDP on total education expenditures were Iceland (8.0 percent), Denmark (7.4 percent), Korea (7.2 percent), and the United States (7.1 percent). Looking at education expenditures by level, the United States spent 3.8 percent of its GDP on elementary and secondary education, which was the same as the average for all OECD countries reporting data. Compared with the percentage of GDP that the United States spent on elementary and secondary education, 12 countries spent a higher percentage, 13 countries spent a lower percentage, and 2 countries spent the same percentage. Iceland spent the highest percentage (5.4 percent) of its GDP on elementary and secondary education. At the postsecondary level, 2.9 percent of the GDP of the United States was spent on education; this amount was higher than the OECD average of 1.5 percent and higher than that of any other OECD country reporting data.

A country's wealth (defined as GDP per capita) is positively associated with expenditures per student on education at both the combined elementary and secondary and postsecondary levels. For example, of the 10 OECD countries with the highest GDP per capita, each country spent more per student on elementary and secondary and postsecondary education than the OECD average, with two exceptions: the Netherlands (elementary and secondary) and Ireland (elementary and secondary and postsecondary). Of the 10 OECD countries with the lowest GDP per capita, each country reported expenditures per student at the elementary and secondary and postsecondary levels that were below the OECD average.

Technical Notes

Education expenditures are from public revenue sources (governments) and private revenue sources. Private sources include payments from households for school-based expenses such as tuition, transportation fees, book rentals, or food services, as well as funds raised by institutions through endowments or returns on investments. Per student expenditures are based on public and private full-time-equivalent (FTE) enrollment figures and on current expenditures and capital outlays from both public and private sources, where data are available. Purchasing power parity (PPP) indices are used to convert other currencies to U.S. dollars (i.e., absolute terms). Within-country consumer price indices are used to adjust the PPP indices to account for inflation because the fiscal year has a different starting date in different countries. Luxembourg data are excluded from the graphs because of anomalies with respect to their GDP per capita data (large revenues from international finance institutions distort the wealth of the population). The OECD average for GDP per capita for each graph is based on the number of countries with data available (28 for figure 37-1 and 28 for figure 37-2).