Education — United States · Synthesis

High spending for average results. The United States devotes around 6% of its GDP to education and is among the countries that spend the most per student (of the order of $15,500 in primary-secondary, NCES/OECD). Yet the results in the PISA 2022 survey (OECD) are average: 465 points in mathematics (below the OECD average of 472), with stronger scores in reading (≈ 504) and science (≈ 499).

Strong inequalities. The system, largely funded locally (property taxes), produces strong disparities between rich and poor districts, and by ethnic and social background. PISA and the NCES document a significant weight of social background on success — a structural trait of the American system.

World-class higher education. American higher education dominates international rankings and attracts the best students and researchers in the world. The rate of higher-education graduates (25-64 years) is high (≈ 50%). This excellence coexists with a cost among the highest in the world.

Student debt, a national issue. The outstanding student debt has exceeded 1,700 billion dollars, carried by tens of millions of borrowers. The cost of higher education and its financing (loans, partial cancellations, legal debates) have become a major economic and political topic.

Aftermath of the pandemic. School closures during the pandemic led to learning losses documented by national assessments (NAEP), particularly marked for disadvantaged students. The catch-up is uneven and is the subject of federal and local programs.

Reducing inequalities and making up losses. The central issue is to close the gaps between districts and the post-Covid learning losses. Local funding creates a strong dependence on the resources of territories — a long-standing debate on the equity of the system.

The cost and access to higher education. Controlling the cost of studies and addressing student debt shape the outlook. Debt-cancellation policies, contested in the courts, and income-based repayment schemes are at the heart of the debate.

Skills and the labor market. The match between training and market needs (STEM, technical trades, AI) and the development of apprenticeship and vocational tracks are works in progress, in a country where the value of a university degree is the subject of a growing cost/benefit debate.

Decentralized governance. Education falls largely to the States and districts; the role of the federal level (targeted funding, standards) is itself a political topic. Content reforms (curricula, textbooks) vary strongly from one State to another.

The open questions. Three trade-offs will shape the decade: (1) reducing the inequalities of a locally funded system; (2) containing the cost of higher education and student debt; (3) making spending effective, high but with average results.

Placed in their environment, the United States appears as a system that spends a lot for average results at the school level, but dominates global higher education — a characteristic duality.

Three takeaways. (1) Per-student spending: among the highest. The United States spends more per student than Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and France, without this translating into higher PISA scores.

(2) School results: average. In mathematics, the United States (≈ 465) sits below the OECD average and behind Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany; it does better in reading. The performance is above all marked by strong internal inequalities.

(3) Higher education: global leadership. The rate of higher-education graduates is high and American universities dominate the rankings — a major asset for innovation and attractiveness, at the cost of an access cost among the highest in the world.