Data / Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio / United States

Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio in United States

Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio in the United States was 79.4% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics. That is down 5.5 pts from 2021. That is the 15th highest of 133 countries in 2020.

202279.4%
Change on 2021-5.5 pts
Rank15th of 133Countries ranked
Series high88.92015
Series low46.81971
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Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio in United States, 1971 to 2022

40506070809019711977198319891995201420221971: 46.8 %1972: 48 %1973: 48.3 %1974: 48.4 %1975: 50.1 %1976: 53.6 %1977: 51.8 %1978: 52.4 %1979: 51.8 %1980: 52.9 %1981: 55.3 %1982: 56.9 %1983: 57.5 %1984: 58.8 %1985: 59.2 %1986: 61 %1987: 64 %1988: 66.8 %1989: 68.6 %1990: 71.5 %1991: 72.8 %1992: 77.1 %1993: 78.7 %1994: 79.5 %1995: 80.3 %1996: 79.3 %1998: 70.9 %1999: 71.4 %2005: 80.6 %2013: 88.7 %2014: 88.6 %2015: 88.9 %2016: 88.8 %2017: 88.2 %2018: 88.3 %2019: 87.9 %2020: 87.6 %2021: 84.9 %2022: 79.4 %
%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR) via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-10-08.
All 39 values
Period%
202279.4
202184.9
202087.6
201987.9
201888.3
201788.2
201688.8
201588.9
201488.6
201388.7
200580.6
199971.4
199870.9
199679.3
199580.3
199479.5
199378.7
199277.1
199172.8
199071.5
198968.6
198866.8
198764
198661
198559.2
198458.8
198357.5
198256.9
198155.3
198052.9
197951.8
197852.4
197751.8
197653.6
197550.1
197448.4
197348.3
197248
197146.8

Rankings

Definition

Students enrolled in tertiary education (ISCED levels 5 to 8), of any age, as a percentage of the population in the five-year age group that follows the official secondary school leaving age. UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

A gross ratio: students outside the reference ages and students from abroad are counted, so it can exceed 100%. It counts students, not graduates; for degree holders in the United States see bachelors_degree_share.

How to cite

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2026). School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR) (Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, United States, 1971 to 2022) [Data set]. World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR

MLA 9

School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR), Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, United States, 1971 to 2022. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. World Bank, World Development Indicators, https://data.worldbank.org. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/united-states. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2026. School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, United States, 1971 to 2022. Dataset. Distributed by World Bank, World Development Indicators. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/united-states.

Harvard

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR), Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, United States, 1971 to 2022 [Dataset]. Via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/united-states (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{unesco_tertiary_education_gross_enrolment_2022,
  author = {{UNESCO Institute for Statistics}},
  title = {{School enrollment, tertiary, \% gross (SE.TER.ENRR): Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, United States, 1971 to 2022}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  publisher = {World Bank, World Development Indicators},
  url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org). Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/united-states. Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). School enrollment, tertiary, \% gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - UNESCO Institute for Statistics
TI  - School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR): Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio, United States, 1971 to 2022
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - World Bank, World Development Indicators
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/united-states
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org).
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-enrolment-ratio/united-states.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the tertiary education gross enrolment ratio in United States?

Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio in the United States was 79.4% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics. That is down 5.5 pts from 2021. That is the 15th highest of 133 countries in 2020.

Where does this figure come from?

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. School enrollment, tertiary, % gross (SE.TER.ENRR). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest tertiary education gross enrolment ratio in United States?

88.9% in 2015, the highest value since 1971 in this series.

Tertiary education gross enrolment ratio in other countries

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