{"id":4090,"date":"2016-03-11T10:11:30","date_gmt":"2016-03-11T16:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=4090"},"modified":"2016-03-11T10:25:01","modified_gmt":"2016-03-11T16:25:01","slug":"quiz-comparative-higher-eduction-spending-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/03\/quiz-comparative-higher-eduction-spending-levels.html","title":{"rendered":"QUIZ: comparative higher eduction spending levels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"LibrePlanet 2014 27\" by Lionel Allorge - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:LibrePlanet_2014_27.jpg#mediaviewer\/File:LibrePlanet_2014_27.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the OECD\u2019s Education at a Glance<\/a>, the United States sits right in the middle of the pack when it comes to total public<\/strong> education spending, on primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, compared to other developed nations, as a percentage of GDP. \u00a0Specifically, the United States ranks 20th out of 38 nations ranked, based on 2012 data. \u00a0(The publication is dated 2015, so I was also surprised that the data is old.)<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s a question for readers:<\/p>\n

where do you think the United States ranks, for tertiary (university) education, on the same measure of public spending as a percent of GDP?<\/p>\n

C\u2019mon, make a guess.<\/p>\n

Surely they\u2019re pretty low, right?<\/p>\n

After all, the tuition levels are sky-high.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the answer:<\/p>\n

The United States ranks fifth, at 1.4% of GDP. \u00a0Sweden and Canada slightly edge us out at 1.5%. \u00a0France and Germany, also touted for free education, spend 1.3% and 1.2% of GDP, respectively.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the full list:<\/p>\n

\"3-11-2016<\/a><\/p>\n

(The footnote, by the way, indicates that R&D funding at major university research funding is excluded.) \u00a0Here\u2019s the URL for this table: \u00a0http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1787\/888933283959<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course, the catch is that the U.S. spends almost an equal amount of private (e.g., student and parent) money, a situation that is\u00a0infrequent elsewhere, where private costs are much lower, especially in Europe, or even nil, as in Germany. \u00a0(In Switzerland and Norway, the 0 for private spending should properly be a \u201cdata not provided\u201d\u00a0if I understood the footnotes correctly.) \u00a0It\u2019s also not stated, so far as I can tell, whether these spending figures include government spending on student living expenses.<\/p>\n

Now, this isn\u2019t a new table, but it\u2019s worth understanding this context when evaluating calls for greater public spending on education. \u00a0Or, as\u00a0I once wrote, \u201cEveryone wants free college, \u2018just like Europe,\u2019 but no one wants the European college system.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 that is, the Europeans provide their \u201cfree college\u201d cost-effectively by requiring a rigorous admissions test for entry and keeping the universities very low-frills compared to the United States.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, does this imply that the U.S. is doing a lot worse at the other levels? \u00a0The OECD doesn\u2019t prepare that breakdown, and it\u2019d really require more data anlaysis, particularly in terms of the proportion that\u2019s school-aged in the first place. \u00a0In addition, I believe that one of the key issues is that, on a per-student annual spending basis, the U.S. likewise ranks high (see table B1.2 in the full report \u2013 the U.S. is 4th), but the total spending for other countries includes, as \u201cprimary education,\u201d some number of \u00a0years of preschool\/daycare spending.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a0\u201cLibrePlanet 2014 27\u201d by Lionel Allorge \u2013 Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons \u2013 http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:LibrePlanet_2014_27.jpg#mediaviewer\/File:LibrePlanet_2014_27.jpg<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the OECD\u2019s Education at a Glance, the United States sits right in the middle of the pack when it comes to total public education spending, on primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, compared to other developed nations, as a percentage of GDP. \u00a0Specifically, the United States ranks 20th out of 38 nations ranked, based […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":1381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[100],"class_list":["post-4090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-universities"],"yoast_head":"\nQUIZ: comparative higher eduction spending levels<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to the OECD's Education at a Glance, the United States sits right in the middle of the pack when it comes to total public education spending, on\" \/>\n<meta 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