South Korea tops OECD in college graduates but lags in spending, employment

South Korea leads the world in the share of young people with college degrees, but public investment in higher education and graduate employment rates remain below the OECD average, a new survey has found.

According to the "OECD Education at a Glance 2026," released Tuesday by the Ministry of Education and the Korean Educational Development Institute, public expenditure per higher-education student in South Korea stood at $16,479 in 2023. That was up 12.1 percent from $14,695 the previous year, but still $6,399 short of the OECD average of $22,878.

The survey covered 50 countries — 38 OECD members and 12 non-members. Education finance data are based on 2023 figures, while data on students and teachers draw on 2024–2025 records. Public expenditure figures combine government, private and foreign funding sources and are adjusted for cross-country price differences using purchasing power parity exchange rates.

Despite the increase in university spending, the gap with international peers has not closed. Government funding for higher education also fell short of the OECD average. In 2023, government-sourced public expenditure on higher education as a share of GDP stood at 0.7 percent on a final-funds basis, below the OECD average of 0.9 percent. Even on an initial-funds basis — which counts government transfers to the private sector such as scholarships as public spending — South Korea came in at 0.9 percent against the OECD average of 1.0 percent.

South Korea's attainment figures, however, were far ahead of its peers. The higher-education attainment rate among 25- to 34-year-olds reached 71.1 percent, outpacing the OECD average of 47.5 percent by 23.6 percentage points. The figure also surpassed Canada at 67.7 percent and Ireland at 66.8 percent, keeping South Korea at the top of the OECD rankings.

Higher education has not translated into stronger employment, however. In 2025, the employment rate for university graduates aged 25 to 64 was 80.1 percent — 5.9 percentage points below the OECD average of 86.0 percent. Graduates of two-year colleges fared similarly, with an employment rate of 78.1 percent, also below the OECD average of 83.4 percent.

Per-student spending at the elementary and secondary levels fell sharply over the past year. Public expenditure per elementary school student came to $16,365 in 2023, down 17.1 percent from the previous year. For middle and high school students, the figure was $21,980, a decline of 13.0 percent. Public expenditure refers to spending by governments and households on school education. Even so, both figures remained above the OECD average.

The Ministry of Education attributed the decline to a drop in tax revenue, which reduced the grants transferred to regional education offices. Tax collection surged in 2022 as the economy recovered, but revenue fell in 2023, leading to a corresponding decrease in local education finance grants.

Student-to-teacher ratios also exceeded OECD averages. In 2024, South Korea had 16.1 students per elementary school teacher and 13.8 per middle school teacher, compared with OECD averages of 13.9 and 12.8, respectively.

However, the current data make it difficult to determine whether the situation has improved from the previous year. Until last year, teachers on leave or seconded to institutions outside schools were included in the calculation, but they were excluded this time. Removing those teachers from the count raises the student-to-teacher ratio.

The ministry said it revised its methodology in line with OECD guidance that calculations should be based on teachers available to teach in actual classrooms. Recalculated historical figures using the new methodology are to be released at a later date.

The ministry said it viewed positively the increase in university spending and the reduction in class sizes. "Public expenditure on higher education has grown, and while the number of students per class remains above the OECD average, conditions are improving," a ministry official said.