Tertiary education (also calledhigher education orpost-secondary education) is theeducational level following the completion ofsecondary education. TheWorld Bank defines tertiary education as includinguniversities,colleges, andvocational schools.^[1]Higher education is taken to includeundergraduate andpostgraduate education, whilevocational education beyond secondary education is known asfurther education in theUnited Kingdom, or included under the category ofcontinuing education in theUnited States.

Tertiary education generally culminates in the receipt ofcertificates,diplomas, oracademic degrees. Higher education represents levels 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the2011 version of theInternational Standard Classification of Education structure. Tertiary education at a nondegree level is sometimes referred to asfurther education orcontinuing education as distinct from higher education.

UNESCO stated that tertiary education focuses on learning endeavors in specialized fields. It includes academic and higher vocational education.^[2] TheWorld Bank's 2019World Development Report on the future of work^[3] argues that given the future of work and the increasing role of technology in value chains, tertiary education is becoming even more relevant for workers to compete in the labor market.

Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage offormal learning that occurs after completion ofsecondary education. This consists ofuniversities,colleges andpolytechnics that offer formal degrees beyond high school or secondary school education.

TheInternational Standard Classification of Education in 1997 initially classified all tertiary education together in the1997 version of its schema. They were referred to as level 5 and doctoral studies at level 6. In 2011, this was refined and expanded in the2011 version of the structure. Higher education at undergraduate level, masters and doctoral level became levels 6, 7, and 8. Nondegree level tertiary education, sometimes referred to asfurther education orcontinuing education was reordered as level 4, with level 5 for some higher courses.^[4]

In the days when few pupils progressed beyondprimary education orbasic education, the term "higher education" was often used to refer to secondary education, which can create some confusion.^{[note 1]} This is the origin of the termhigh school for various schools for children between the ages of 14 and 18 (United States) or 11 and 18 (United Kingdom and Australia).^[5]

House of Life 'library' inhieroglyphs

The oldest known institutions of higher education are credited to Dynastic Egypt, with Pr-Anx (houses of life) built as libraries and scriptoriums, containing works on law, architecture, mathematics, and medicine, and involved in the training of "swnw" and "swnwt" (male and femaledoctors); extantEgyptian papyri from the 3rd millennia BC are in several collections.^[8]

In the Greek world,Plato's Academy (c. 387–86 BCE),Aristotle's Lyceum (c. 334–86 BCE) and other philosophical-mathematical schools became models for other establishments, particularly inAlexandria of Egypt, under thePtolemies.

InSouth Asia, the city ofTaxila^[when?], later the great Buddhist monastery ofNalanda (c. 427–1197 CE), attracted students and professors even from distant regions.[9]

InChina, theHan dynasty established chairs to teach theFive Confucean Classics, in the Grand School,Taixue (c. 3–1905 CE), to train cadres for the imperial administration.[10]^[11] All these higher-learning institutions became models for other schools within their sphere of cultural influence.^[12]

In 425 CE, the Byzantine emperorTheodosius II innovated as he established thePandidakterion, with a faculty of 31 professors, to train public servants. In the 7th and 8th centuries, "cathedral schools" were created in Western Europe. Meanwhile, the first Madrasahs were founded in the Muslim empire – initially mere primary schools in the premises of major mosques, which gradually evolved toward secondary, later higher education. However high the intellectual level of these schools could be, it would be anachronistic to call them "universities". Their organization and purposes were markedly different from the corporations of students and teachers, independent from both the Church and the State, which established themselves from the 12th century in Western Europe asUniversitas Studiorum.^{[citation needed]}

According toUNESCO andGuinness World Records, theUniversity of al-Qarawiyyin inFez, Morocco is theoldest existing continually operating higher educational institution in the world.^[13][14] and is occasionally referred to as the oldest university by scholars.^[15] Undoubtedly, there are older institutions of higher education, for example, theUniversity of Ez-Zitouna in Montfleury,Tunis, was first established in 737. TheUniversity of Bologna, Italy, founded in 1088, is the world's oldest university in continuous operation,^{[16][17][18][19][20]} and the first university in the sense of a higher-learning and degree-awarding institute, as the worduniversitas was coined at its foundation.^{[19][16][17][18]}

SinceWorld War II, developed and many developing countries have increased the participation of the age group who mostly studies higher education from the elite rate, of up to 15 per cent, to the mass rate of 16 to 50 per cent.^[21][22] In many developed countries, participation in higher education has continued to increase towards universal or, what Trow later called, open access, where over half of the relevant age group participate in higher education.^[23] Higher education is important to nationaleconomies, both as an industry, in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy. College educated workers have commanded a measurable wage premium and are much less likely to become unemployed than less educated workers.^[24][25]

In recent years, universities have been criticized for permitting or actively encouraginggrade inflation.^[26][27]Widening participation can increase the supply of graduates in individual fields of study over the demand for their skills, aggravatinggraduate unemployment,underemployment,overqualification andeducational inflation.^[28][29] Some commentators have suggested that theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education is rapidly making certain aspects of the traditional higher education system obsolete.^[30] The Israeli-fundedInstitute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy and some Israeli media have claimed thatinvolvement and funding by Qatar in higher education in the US has resulted in what they regard as growing anti-Semitism on campuses, in particular in connection withGaza war protests.^{[31][better source needed][32]}

Globally, the grossenrollment ratio in tertiaryeducation increased from 19% in 2000 to 38% in 2017, with thefemale enrollment ratio exceeding the male ratio by 4 percentage points.^[33]

The tertiary gross enrollment ratio ranges from 9% inlow-income countries to 77% inhigh-income countries, where, after rapid growth in the 2000s, reached a plateau in the 2010s.^[33]

Between now and 2030, the biggest increase in tertiary enrollment ratios is expected in middle-income countries, where it will reach 52%.Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) commits countries to providinglifelong learning opportunities for all, including tertiary education.^[33]

This commitment is monitored through the global indicator for target 4.3 in the sustainable development goal 4 (SDG 4), which measures the participation rate ofyouth andadults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, whether for work or non-work purposes.^[33]

The right of access to higher education is mentioned in a number ofinternational human rights instruments. The UNInternational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 declares, in Article 13, that "higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education".^[34] InEurope, Article 2 of theFirst Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, adopted in 1950, obliges all signatory parties to guarantee theright to education.^[35]

University completion rates for students with disabilities are much lower compared to completion rates of students without disabilities.^[36]

Some tertiary schools have been criticized as having permitted or actively encouragedgrade inflation.^[26][37] In addition, certain scholars contend that the supply of graduates in some fields of study is exceeding the demand for their skills, aggravatinggraduate unemployment,underemployment andeducational inflation.^[38][39]

Graduates of tertiary education are likely to have different worldviews and moral values than non-graduates. Graduates are also more likely to embrace cultural and ethnic diversity and express more positive views towards minority groups. For international relationships, graduates are more likely to favor openness, supporting policies likefree trade,open borders, and more liberal policies regardinginternational migration.^[40]

Tertiary education can increasehuman capital andeconomic growth.^[41]

In the U.S., higher education is provided byuniversities,academies,colleges,seminaries,conservatories, andinstitutes of technology, and certain college-level institutions, includingvocational schools, universities of applied sciences, trade schools, and other career-based colleges that award degrees. Tertiary education at a nondegree level is sometimes referred to asfurther education orcontinuing education as distinct from higher education.^[42][43]

Higher education includes teaching, research, exacting applied work, as exists inmedical schools anddental schools, and social services activities of universities.^[44]

Within the realm of teaching, it includes both theundergraduate level, and beyond that,graduate-level (orpostgraduate level). The latter level of education is often referred to asgraduate school, especially in North America. In addition to the skills that are specific to any particular degree, potential employers in any profession are looking for evidence ofcritical thinking and analytical reasoning skills,teamworking skills,information literacy,ethical judgment,decision-making skills, fluency in speaking and writing,problem solving skills, and a wide knowledge of liberal arts and sciences.^[45]

Foreign tertiary degrees can bevalidated aftercredential evaluation, for example according to theLisbon Recognition Convention.^[46]

The total expenditure on tertiary education (ISCED levels 5 to 8) as a percentage of GDP for individual countries is shown in the following table

Country	Tertiary Education expenditure as % of GDP 2020[47]
Australia	1.9
Austria	1.8
Belgium	1.6
Bulgaria	1.2
Canada	2.4
Chile	2.7
Colombia	1.5
Costa Rica	1.6
Croatia	1.2
Czech Republic	1.1
Denmark	1.9
Estonia	1.5
Finland	1.6
France	1.6
Germany	1.3
Greece	0.9
Hungary	0.9
Iceland	1.4
Ireland	0.8
Israel	1.4
Italy	1.0
Japan	1.4
Latvia	1.4
Lithuania	1.2
Luxembourg	0.5
Mexico	1.2
Netherlands	1.8
New Zealand	1.6
Norway	2.0
Poland	1.3
Portugal	1.3
Romania	0.8
Slovakia	1.1
Slovenia	1.2
South Korea	1.5
Spain	1.5
Sweden	1.6
Turkey	1.5
United Kingdom	1.5
United States of America	2.5

The percentage of adults who have attained individual tertiary education levels by country is shown in the following table.

Country	Ages 25–64: % attaining a tertiary degree course equivalent to at least:[48]
	Any tertiary	Bachelor's	Master's	Doctoral
Argentina	24.8			1.4
Australia	51.5	39.4	10.9	1.9
Austria	35.6	20.4	14.8	1.2
Belgium	45.8	45.0	20.1	1.1
Brazil	21.0	21.0	1.0	0.3
Bulgaria	29.8	29.8	20.4	0.3
Canada	62.7
Chile	31.4
China	18.5
Colombia	28.3
Costa Rica	25.3
Czech Republic	26.7	26.5	19.7	0.7
Denmark	42.1	37.0	16.3	1.5
Estonia	42.1	36.5	21.8	0.8
Finland	42.6	35.1	17.3	1.3
France	41.6	27.2	15.2	1.0
Germany	32.5	31.9	13.6	1.9
Greece	35.1	34.7	9.3	0.9
Hungary	29.4	28.5	13.9	0.5
India	12.9	12.9	3.4	3.4
Indonesia	13.1	10.3	0.8	0.0
Iceland	43.6	39.4	18.1	1.2
Ireland	54.4	44.3	16.6	1.7
Israel	50.6	39.6	15.2	1.2
Italy	20.3	20.2	14.6	0.6
Japan	56.1
Latvia	39.5	35.1	18.4	0.4
Lithuania	46.5	46.5	16.5	0.8
Luxembourg	51.5	46.6	31.4	2.9
Mexico	20.6	20.1	1.9	0.1
Netherlands	44.7	42.4	18.2	1.2
New Zealand	39.8	35.8	6.3	1.1
Norway	48.1	36.5	15.4	1.5
Poland	33.9	33.8	26.2	0.8
Portugal	31.5	31.2	21.7	0.9
Romania	19.7
Slovakia	29.2	29.1	25.3	0.9
Slovenia	40.1	31.7	20.1	3.7
South Korea	52.8
South Africa	13.9
Spain	41.1	28.5	17.2	0.8
Sweden	48.5	38.7	18.7	2.0
Switzerland	44.7	44.7	20.0	3.2
Turkey	25.0	18.3	2.3	0.4
United Kingdom	51.3	42.3	15.8	1.7
United States of America	50.0	39.4	14.4	2.1

A 2014 report by theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development states that by 2014, 84 percent of young people were completing upper secondary education over their lifetimes, in high-income countries. Tertiary-educated individuals were earning twice as much as median workers. In contrast to historical trends in education, young women were more likely to complete upper secondary education than young men. Additionally, access to education was expanding and growth in the number of people receiving university education was rising sharply. By 2014, close to 40 percent of people aged 25–34 (and around 25 percent of those aged 55–64), were being educated at university.^[49]

Within Australia, "tertiary education" refers to continuing studies after a student completes secondary school. Tertiary education options include universities,technical and further education (TAFE) and private universities.^[50]

Although tertiary education in theEU includes university, it can differ from country to country.

After going tonursery school (French: école maternelle),elementary school (French: école primaire),middle school (French: collège), andhigh school (French: lycée), a student may go to university, but may also stop at that point.

Education in Italy is compulsory from 6 to 16 years of age,^[53] and is divided into five stages: kindergarten (scuola dell'infanzia), primary school (scuola primaria orscuola elementare),lower secondary school (scuola secondaria di primo grado orscuola media inferiore),upper secondary school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado orscuola media superiore) and university (università).^[54] Education is free in Italy and free education is available to children of all nationalities who are residents in Italy. Italy has both a private and public education system.^[55]

Italy has a large and international network of public or state-affiliated universities and schools offering degrees in higher education. State-run universities of Italy constitute the main percentage of tertiary education in Italy and are managed under the supervision of Italian's Ministry of Education.

Italian universities are among the oldest universities in the world; theUniversity of Bologna (founded in 1088) notably, isthe oldest one ever; also,University of Naples Federico II is the world's oldest state-funded university in continuous operation.^[58][7] Most universities in Italy are state-supported. 33 Italian universities were ranked among the world's top 500 in 2019, the third-largest number in Europe after the United Kingdom and Germany.^[59]

There are also a number ofSuperior Graduate Schools (Grandes écoles)^[60] orScuola Superiore Universitaria, which offer officially recognized titles, including theDiploma di Perfezionamento equivalent to a Doctorate,Dottorato di Ricerca i.e.Research Doctorate orDoctor Philosophiae i.e. PhD.^[61] Some of them also organize master's degree courses. There are three Superior Graduate Schools with "university status", three institutes with the status of Doctoral Colleges, which function atgraduate and post-graduate level. Nine further schools are direct offshoots of the universities (i.e. do not have their own 'university status'). The first one is theScuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (founded in 1810 byNapoleon as a branch ofÉcole Normale Supérieure), taking the model of organization from the famousÉcole Normale Supérieure. These institutions are commonly referred to as "Schools of Excellence" (i.e. "Scuole di Eccellenza").^[60][62]

Italy hosts a broad variety of universities, colleges and academies. Founded in 1088, theUniversity of Bologna is likelythe oldest in the world.^[63] In 2009, the University of Bologna is, according toThe Times, the only Italian college in the top 200 World Universities. Milan'sBocconi University has been ranked among the top 20 best business schools in the world byThe Wall Street Journal international rankings, especially thanks to itsM.B.A. program, which in 2007 placed it no. 17 in the world in terms of graduate recruitment preference by major multinational companies.^[64] Bocconi was also ranked byForbes as the best worldwide in the specific category Value for Money.^[65] In May 2008, Bocconi overtook several traditionally top global business schools in theFinancial TimesExecutive education ranking, reaching no. 5 in Europe and no. 15 in the world.^[66]

Other top universities and polytechnics are theUniversità Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, theLUISS in Rome, thePolytechnic University of Turin, thePolitecnico di Milano (which in 2011 was ranked as the 48th best technical university in the world byQS World University Rankings^[67]), theUniversity of Rome La Sapienza (which in 2005 was Europe's 33rd best university,^[68] and ranks among Europe's 50 and the world's 150 best colleges^[69] and in 2013, the Center for World University Rankings ranked theSapienza University of Rome 62nd in the world and the top in Italy in itsWorld University Rankings.^[70]) and theUniversity of Milan (whose research and teaching activities have developed over the years and have received important international recognition). This university is the only Italian member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), a prestigious group of twenty research-intensive European Universities. It has also been awarded ranking positions such as 1st in Italy and 7th in Europe (TheLeiden Ranking – Universiteit Leiden).

Underdevolution in the United Kingdom, education is administered separately in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. In England, the term "tertiary education" aligns with the global term "higher education" (i.e. post-18 study).^[71] In 2018 the Welsh Government adopted the term "tertiary education" to refer to post-16 education and training in Wales.^[72] Since the 1970s, however, specializedfurther education colleges in England and Wales have called themselves "tertiary colleges" although being part of thesecondary education process. These institutions cater for both school leavers and adults, thus combining the main functions of an FE college and asixth form college.^[73] Generally, district councils with such colleges have adopted a tertiary system or structure where a single local institution provides all the 16–19 and adult education, and where schools do not universally offer sixth forms (i.e. schools only serve ages 11–16). However theFurther and Higher Education Act 1992 has effectively prevented the creation of new tertiary colleges.^[74]

Thehigher education system in the United States is decentralized and regulated independently by each state^[77] withaccreditors playing a key role in ensuring institutions meet minimum standards. It is large and diverse with institutions that are privately governed and institutions that are owned and operated by state and local governments. Some private institutions are affiliated with religious organizations whereas others are secular with enrollment ranging from a few dozen to tens of thousands of students. The United States Department of Education presents a broad-spectrum view of tertiary education and detailed information on the nation's educational structure, accreditation procedures, and connections to state as well as federal agencies and entities.^[78]

TheCarnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education provides one framework for classifying U.S. colleges and universities in several different ways.^[79] US tertiary education also includes various non-profit organizations promoting professional development of individuals in the field of higher education and helping expand awareness of related issues like international student services and complete campus internationalization.^[80][81]

In Nigeria,tertiary education refers to post-secondary education received at universities (government or privately funded), monotechnics, polytechnics and colleges of education. After completing a secondary education, students may enroll in a tertiary institution or acquire avocational education. Students are required to sit for theJoint Admissions and Matriculation Board Entrance Examination (JAMB) as well as theSecondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) or General Certificate Examination (GCE) and meet varying cut-off marks to gain admission into a tertiary institution.^[82]

According to MEXT (Ministry of Education) and UNESCO, following types of education are classified as tertiary education: University education (undergraduate, postgraduate and professional degrees), two-year colleges (Tanki Daigaku), colleges of technology and specialised colleges.^[83]

In Hong Kong "tertiary education" or "higher education" refers to any education higher than secondary education. Tertiary education includes universities, post secondary colleges, statutory universities, and publicly funded institutions.

• Category:Higher education by country
• List of countries by tertiary education attainment
• List of education articles by country
• List of higher education associations and alliances
• List of universities and colleges by country
• Student SPILL
• College and university rankings
  • Criticism of college and university rankings in North America
• Governance in higher education
• Graduation
• Higher education accreditation
• Higher education bubble
• Higher education policy
• Higher Education Price Index
• Institute
• UnCollege
• Hochschule
• League of European Research Universities
• Technical and Further Education (TAFE)

• Alkamel, Mohammed Adulkareem A.; Chouthaiwale, Santosh S.; Yassin, Amr Abdullatif; AlAjmi, Qasim; Albaadany, Hanan Yahia (March 2021). "Online Testing in Higher Education Institutions During the Outbreak of COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities". In Arpaci, Ibrahim; Al-Emran, Mostafa; Al-Sharafi, Mohammed A.; Marques, Gonçalo (eds.).Emerging Technologies During the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control. Vol. 348.Cham, Switzerland:Springer Nature. pp. 349–363.doi:10.1007/978-3-030-67716-9_22.ISBN 978-3-030-67715-2.PMC 7980164.S2CID 232322223.
• Council of Europe Higher Education Series

Wikimedia Commons has media related toHigher education.

• Tertiary education statisticsArchived 5 March 2012 at theWayback Machine, UNESCO
• Quality Research International – (Glossary)
• Association for the Study of Higher Education
• American Educational Research Association
• World Bank Tertiary Education

• Tertiary education
• Educational stages

• Pages using the WikiHiero extension
• Webarchive template wayback links
• CS1 Italian-language sources (it)
• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2025
• All articles with vague or ambiguous time
• Vague or ambiguous time from December 2020
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2020
• All articles lacking reliable references
• Articles lacking reliable references from April 2024
• Articles with excerpts
• Free-content attribution
• Free content from UNESCO
• Commons category link is locally defined