Market Intelligence Brief for United States of America now available

The US is by numerous measures world leading. It has the third largest population in the world and a relatively young population compared to other highly developed nations. Nearly a third of Americans were under the age of 25 in 2015. The US is also the largest economy in the world, though it is likely to soon be overtaken by China or India. The global Covid-19 pandemic has hit the US economy particularly hard and annual GDP is expected to contract by at least 3 per cent in 2020. In regards to education, the US hosts the most international students globally and has the second largest education system after China.

Education is very decentralised in the US, with education primarily falling under the remit of state governments. This means that the structure and quality of education varies greatly from state to state. While its tertiary education system is among the best in the world – seven out of the top 10 HEIs globally are in the US, according to the 2020 THE rankings – it is also one of the most expensive. Annual tuition fees range from around US$5,000 for smaller two-year colleges to around US$50,000 for elite private universities. These extortionate prices may be pushing American students to look elsewhere for their tertiary study. It may also contribute to America’s waning strength as a destination for university studies, creating opportunity for competitor destinations such as the UK, Canada and Australia.

The US is the largest host of international students in the world. In 2019, it welcomed over 1 million international students, a number which increased greatly over the course of the last decade. It attracts far more students that it sends and only a third as many Americans study abroad as the US hosts international students. Europe is by far the most popular destination for outwardly mobile American students and the UK hosts the most students overall.

In this Market Intelligence Brief, explore the demographics, economics and education system of the US. As home of one of the largest education systems in the world and with its strong cultural ties to the UK, the US will continue as an important education partner for the UK well into the future.

If you have any questions or feedback on this report, please fill out our feedback survey or email timothy.vangardingen@britishcouncil.org.  If you encountered any problems when purchasing the reports, please e-mail insightsandconsultancy@britishcouncil.org.

The Market Intelligence Brief is designed to provide you with an overview of a particular country. Using the latest data from the most reliable sources, it represents a window onto the country's education system and student population as well as the economic, demographic and social factors that shape its higher education sector. The new 2020 series covers not only updated analysis on macro-economic and socio-economic indicators, but also provides a full picture of the education market of a given country.

For institutions which have already subscribed for any of our packages in 2020-21, users with subscription admin or subscription report buyer roles assigned can purchase the reports using your subscription download quota without paying any additional fee. Purchased reports can then be shared among all subscription users from the same institution.

Our subscription packages are customised to different requirements and budgets. In addition to volume discounts on purchases from our wide range of Education Intelligence reports, you can also have exclusive access to our highly sought-after data mining tools. More information about our subscription packages can be found here.