02 expenditure on tertiary education in OECD countries

In 2011, average expenditure per student in France was above the OECD average. Since 2005, it has increased more rapidly than in the majority of countries. However, national expenditure on tertiary education is still slightly below the average (1.5% of GDP against 1.6%).

International comparisons of education expenditure are somewhat difficult due to the demographic and socio-economic diversity of the different countries and their national education systems. In tertiary education, this difficulty is reinforced by the wide variety of educational structures at this level. Nevertheless, the situation of France can be assessed using some general indicators.

The amount of expenditure on education as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the indicator which provides the best overall assessment of the effort made in practical terms by all financers of national education systems (chart 02.01). With 1.5% of GDP devoted to tertiary education in 2011, France is close to the average for OECD countries (1.6%). It is ahead of other European countries such as Germany (1.3%), the United Kingdom (1.2%), and Italy (1.0%) but lags behind the Netherlands (1.8%) and the Scandinavian countries (between 1.7 and 1.9%). There are three countries whose expenditure on tertiary education is very much higher than the average: Canada (2.8% in 2010), the United States (2.7%) and South Korea (2.6%).

If we compare annual expenditure per student in tertiary education in the different countries, we can see a different country hierarchy emerging compared with the previous indicator (chart 02.02). In 2011, the United States pulled ahead sharply with its high level of expenditure ($26,020 PPP), followed by Canada, Denmark and Sweden, which spent more than $20,000 PPP per student. France spent $15,380 PPP per student, or 10% more than the OECD average ($14,000 PPP). This expenditure was higher than that of Italy or Spain, but lower than that of Germany and Japan.

Between 2005 and 2011, average expenditure per student in France increased more rapidly than the average for the OECD countries (+15% against +10%) (chart 02.02). There was also a sharp increase in South Korea (+40%), Ireland (+21%), and Finland (+21%). Conversely, a drop in the level of annual expenditure per student could be seen between 2005 and 2011 in Norway (-2%) and the United States (-4%).

In tertiary education in the OECD countries, the relative share of public expenditure (central government, local authorities and other public administrative bodies) is greater than private expenditure (households and other private financers such as companies), with an OECD average of 69.2% to 30.8%, (chart 02.04). In the Scandinavian countries and Belgium, expenditure on tertiary education institutions is almost all public (greater than or equal to 90%). In contrast, in South Korea, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States and Australia, funding is predominantly private. In France, public funding is around 80.8%, well above the OECD average (+11.6 points).

Marguerite Rudolf