Tertiary education is a stage of education following compulsory education. Depending on the definition used it may include all post-compulsory education, including that delivered at secondary schools, all post-secondary education, or be a synonym for higher education. Historically, it has covered education between the end of compulsory schooling and the start of higher education (then referred to as post-tertiary education). Tertiary education may be defined by life-stage as including adult education at all educational levels, including basic skills education, or may be defined by educational level as only including education at the higher education level.
Tertiary education may culminate in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees, or may be life-long learning that does not result in formal certification. Higher education is taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, representing levels 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the 2011 version of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) structure, while vocational education beyond secondary education is known as further education in the United Kingdom, or included under the category of continuing education in the United States.
UNESCO stated that tertiary education focuses on learning endeavours in specialised fields. It includes academic and higher vocational education. The World Bank's 2019 World Development Report on the future of work 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.
Definition
Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education. This consists of universities, colleges and polytechnics that offer formal degrees beyond high school or secondary school education.
The International Standard Classification of Education in 1997 initially classified all tertiary education together in the 1997 version of its schema. It referred to them as level 5 and doctoral studies as level 6. In 2011, this was refined and expanded in the 2011 version of the structure. Higher education at the undergraduate, master's, masters and doctoral levels became levels 6, 7, and 8. Non-degree level tertiary education, sometimes referred to as further education or continuing education, was reordered as level 4, with level 5 for more advanced courses.
In the days when few pupils progressed beyond primary education or basic education, the term "higher education" was often used to refer to secondary education, which can create some confusion. This is the origin of the term high school for various schools for children between the ages of 14 and 18 (United States) or 11 and 18 (United Kingdom and Australia).
History
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 female doctors); extant Egyptian papyri from the 3rd millennium BC are in several collections.
In the Greek world, Plato's Academy (), Aristotle's Lyceum () and other philosophical-mathematical schools became models for other establishments, particularly in Alexandria of Egypt, under the Ptolemies.
In South Asia, the city of Taxila, later the great Buddhist monastery of Nalanda (), attracted students and professors even from distant regions.
In China, the Han dynasty established chairs to teach the Five Confucean Classics in the Grand School, Taixue (), to train cadres for the imperial administration. All these higher-learning institutions became models for other schools within their sphere of cultural influence.
In 425 CE, the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II innovated by establishing the Pandidakterion to train public servants, with a faculty of 31 professors. In the 7th and 8th centuries, "cathedral schools" were created in Western Europe. Meanwhile, the first Madrasahs were founded in the Muslim empires. They began as primary schools on the premises of major mosques, but gradually evolved into secondary schools and centres of higher education. However, these schools cannot be classified as universities because their organisation and purposes were markedly different from the corporations of students and teachers, independent of both the Church and the State, which established themselves from the 12th century in Western Europe as Universitas Studiorum.
According to UNESCO and Guinness World Records, the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco, is the oldest existing continually operating higher educational institution in the world and is occasionally referred to as the oldest university by scholars.Verger, Jacques: "Patterns", in: Ridder-Symoens, Hilde de (ed.): A History of the University in Europe. Vol. I: Universities in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 2003, , pp. 35–76 (35) However, there are older institutions of higher education, such as the University of Ez-Zitouna in Montfleury, Tunis, which was first established in 737. The University of Bologna, Italy, founded in 1088, is the world's oldest university in continuous operation and the first university in the sense of a higher-learning and degree-awarding institute, as the word universitas was coined at its foundation.
20th century Since World 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. 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. Republished in Higher education is important to national economies, 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.
21st century In recent years, universities have been criticized for permitting or actively encouraging grade inflation. Widening participation can increase the supply of graduates in individual fields of study over the demand for their skills, aggravating graduate unemployment, underemployment, overqualification and educational inflation. Some commentators have suggested that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education is rapidly making certain aspects of the traditional higher education system obsolete. The Israeli-funded Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy and some Israeli media have claimed that involvement and funding by Qatar in higher education in the US has resulted in what they regard as growing anti-Semitism on campuses, particularly in connection to Gaza war protests.
Enrollment
Globally, the gross enrollment ratio in tertiary education increased from 19% in 2000 to 38% in 2017. The tertiary gross enrollment ratio ranges from 9% in low-income countries to 77% in high-income countries, which, after rapid growth in the 2000s, reached a plateau in the 2010s. Since 1990s, men are underrepresented among tertiary education students in most developed countries.
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 providing lifelong learning opportunities for all, including tertiary education. 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 of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, whether for work or non-work purposes. The right of access to higher education is mentioned in a number of international human rights instruments. The UN International 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". In Europe, Article 2 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, adopted in 1950, obliges all signatory parties to guarantee the right to education. University completion rates for students with disabilities are much lower compared to completion rates of students without disabilities.
Grade and educational inflation Some tertiary schools have been criticized as having permitted or actively encouraged grade inflation. In addition, certain scholars contend that the supply of graduates in some fields of study is exceeding the demand for their skills, aggravating graduate unemployment, underemployment and educational inflation.
Effects
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 like free trade, open borders, and more liberal policies regarding international migration.
Tertiary education has been linked to increases in human capital, economic growth, and higher wages, as well as reductions in poverty. A 2025 study found evidence suggesting that those who attend college are less prone to indoctrination. Cost-benefit calculation indicate that government investment in higher education results in net fiscal benefits.
Providers
In the U.S., higher education is provided by universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, conservatories, institutes of technology, and certain college-level institutions, including vocational schools, universities of applied sciences, trade schools, and other career-based colleges that award degrees. Tertiary education at a non-degree level is sometimes referred to as further education or continuing education, as distinct from higher education. Higher education includes teaching; research; exacting applied work, as exists in medical schools and dental schools; and social service activities of universities.Pucciarelli F., Kaplan Andreas M. (2016) Competition and Strategy in Higher Education: Managing Complexity and Uncertainty , Business Horizons, Volume 59
The realm of teaching includes both the undergraduate level and graduate level (or postgraduate level). The latter level of education is often referred to as graduate school, especially in North America. In addition to the skills that are specific to any particular degree, employers are generally interested in critical 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.
Credential evaluation Foreign tertiary degrees can be validated after credential evaluation, such as according to the Lisbon Recognition Convention.
Statistics 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 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.2 2.4 2.7 1.5 1.6 1.2 1.1 1.9 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.3 0.9 0.9 1.4 0.8 1.4 1.0 1.4 1.4 1.2 0.5 1.2 1.8 1.6 2.0 1.3 1.3 0.8 1.1 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5 2.5
The percentage of adults who have attained individual tertiary education levels by country is shown in the following table.