The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its Education at a Glance 2012 report last week. The report, which includes vocational training as part of high education and post-secondary education, ranked the United States as the fifth most educated country in the world. While the U.S. is home to some of the most renowned institutions of higher education, it's growth rate for higher education is a mere 1.3 percent per year - which is rather low in comparison to the OECD average of 3.7 percent.
The report also analyzed the age of those enrolled in higher education and although the U.S. is one of the world leaders in higher education for people between the ages of 25 and 64, it ranks just 14th globally for the percentage of those enrolled aged 25 to 34.
The countries ahead of the U.S. for most educated countries in the world are Japan at four, Israel at three, and Canada at two. Russia is the reigning holder of the most educated country in the world after seeing a 78 percent increase in post-secondary foreign students between 2005 and 2010.
While fifth isn't last, it looks like STEM isn't the only thing the United States education realm needs to look at to keep future generations competitive educationally.
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