European Commission

Education and Training Monitor 2023

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Comparative report

Chapter 5. Higher education

5.1. Tertiary educational attainment

EU-level 2030 target: ‘The share of 25-34-year-olds with tertiary educational attainment should be at least 45% by 2030.’

The steady growth in the proportion of tertiary-educated209 25-34-year-olds seen over the past two decades continued in 2022, up 0.6 percentage points from 2021 (Figure 26). The proportion now stands at 42.0% across the EU, on track to surpass the EU-level target of 45% by 2030210. Moreover, a new trajectory, using forecasts of known determinants such as employability211 and proxies for parental educational attainment, estimates that the EU will surpass the 2030 target by a considerable margin, already topping 45% around 2025212.

Figure 26. The EU is set to surpass its target on tertiary level attainment.
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Educational attainment at tertiary level is close to becoming the most common level of attainment among younger adults in the EU213, albeit with sizeable variations at country level214 (Figure 27). In nine EU countries, over 50% of 25-34-year-olds have attained tertiary level education. By contrast, fewer than two in five young people have reached this level in eight EU countries. Most countries recorded a 2021-22 increase in their tertiary attainment rate, at 0.5 percentage point or higher in 13 countries. Still, there were EU countries where the attainment rate decreased, with five countries recording declines of more than 0.5 percentage point (Slovenia, Denmark, Hungary, Luxembourg, and Portugal).

Figure 27. Sizeable variations remain when it comes to rates of tertiary educational attainment at country level.
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While the overall trajectory at EU and country level paints a positive picture, there are variations in educational attainment between different groups that need emphasising. Firstly, there is a persistent gender gap in tertiary attainment rates215, which has fluctuated between 10 and 11 percentage points over the past 10 years216. Men (36.5%) are far less likely to have gained tertiary level qualifications than women (47.6%)217. Although tertiary attainment is becoming more common in general, the increase over the past 10 years has been more pronounced for women (7.3 percentage points) than men (6.5 percentage points)218.

Noticeable gender gaps are also evident when distributing tertiary educated 25-34-year-olds across fields of education. At the EU level, the largest gaps are found within education; ICT; health and welfare; and engineering, manufacturing, and construction, where there is a gender gap of more than 50 percentage points219. In all other broad fields, the gaps are below 40 percentage points. A combined aggregate for the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines has the fifth largest gap, at 40.4 percentage points220.

Box 16. Closing the gender gap in STEM

Closing the gender gap in STEM is likely to encourage economic growth via both higher productivity and increased labour market activity, especially in ICT. All EU countries face a critical shortage of digital experts, which could hinder the development, uptake, and use of emerging key digital technologies221.

In response to the demands of the digital transition, the EU has set ambitious targets to provide for a digitally skilled population (80% of the population report having at least basic digital skills) and highly skilled digital professionals (20 million ICT specialists are in employment) by the end of the decade222.

Higher education has a key role to play in promoting women’s access to ICT and increasing the number of ICT graduates223. Meeting the target on highly skilled digital professionals requires a drastic increase to the 9.4 million ICT specialists currently employed in the EU, of whom only 18.9% are women224.

Figure 28 presents the policies for tackling gender equity issues in higher education currently in place in EU education systems225. Only two countries (the Netherlands and Sweden) have implemented all four measures for tackling gender equity issues. In about one third of the countries there are no measures in place.

Figure 28. Policies for tackling gender equity issues in higher education are not prevalent across the EU.
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Another area worth emphasising concerns variations in attainment rates by country of birth. As shown in Figure 29, a young person born in the reporting country whose parent(s) were also born in the reporting country has a similar likelihood of gaining tertiary level qualifications (43.1%) as a young person born in the reporting country whose parent(s) were born in another EU country (44.4%) or outside the EU (43.3%). By contrast, a young person who was born in another EU country and whose parent(s) were born in another EU country is less likely to gain tertiary level qualifications (36.9%). The least likely to have gained tertiary level qualifications is a young person who was born outside the EU and whose parent(s) were also born outside the EU (35.2%).

Figure 29. Country of birth and parental country of birth affect the likelihood of tertiary educational attainment.
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Box 17. Examples from the country reports

Bulgaria is rolling out a large-scale programme to modernise its higher education system, with co-funding from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). Its aim is to introduce a competency model, help develop joint university programmes, enable people to develop transversal skills, and improve the competences of teaching staff. The curricula will also be updated to increase focus on knowledge and skills for the green transition. ESF+ co-financed operations have been launched in 2023 to introduce dual training in higher education.

Croatia is reforming its higher education system to promote excellence and improve labour market relevance, digitalisation, and internationalisation, partly under the national recovery and resilience plan and with the support of the EU’s Technical Support Instrument. In particular, it has introduced performance agreements and revised methods for internal quality assurance and external evaluation of higher education institutions, as well as accreditation procedures for such institutions and new study programmes.

In Spain, according to the new Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System, universities can provide ‘own degrees’ (títulos propios) and lifelong education that includes micro-credentials, micro-modules, and other programmes of short duration. Universities may provide micro-credentials or micro-modules of less than 15 ECTS credits; access to these may or may not require a previous university degree. An action plan to develop micro-credentials has been launched, partly supported by the Technical Support Instrument and under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, under which around 1 000 new courses will be created and 60 000 micro-credentials of 10 ECTS credits on average will be granted per year. Around a quarter of them will be free for unemployed individuals, employees in precarious or non-standard work situations, self-employed and micro-enterprise workers, and groups at risk of social exclusion.

Austria adopted the ‘Universities and Digital Transformation 2030’ strategic framework, which lays down a set of principles for universities and a series of actions to promote digitalisation of higher education. This followed the ‘Recommendations on digital teaching, learning and eAssessment at higher education institutions’ issued by the Austrian Higher Education Conference in 2021, which already provided detailed guidance to universities.

There has been more progress made with strategies related to admission procedures for under-represented groups than with strategies for gender equity (Figure 30). In 19 education systems, three or more measures exist. The most common of these relate to atypical entry routes into higher education, such as bridging programmes or entry through recognition of prior learning, which exist in 24 education systems. Moreover, there is a strategy or another major policy plan currently being implemented in 19 education systems.

Figure 30. More progress in strategies related to admission for under-represented groups than in strategies for gender equity.
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In a nutshell

The rate of tertiary educational attainment among 25-34-year-olds continues to increase, from 39.4% in 2019 to 42.0% in 2022, putting the EU well on track to reaching the 2030 target of at least 45%. Considerable progress has been made at EU level, and yet in eight EU countries, fewer than two in five young people have reached the level of tertiary education. There are persistent gender gaps in all EU countries, both in terms of attainment rates and areas of education. Only 18 education systems in the EU currently have strategies aimed at gender equity in higher education, while strategies helping under-represented groups access higher education are slightly more common. Meanwhile, countries continue modernising higher education through, for instance, digitalisation, competence frameworks, and micro-credentials.

5.2. Learning mobility

In 2021, 9.8% of EU graduates at bachelor and master level had been on a temporary stay abroad226, known as credit mobility, at some point during their studies (Figure 31)227. This was an expected decline compared to 2020, when 11.2% of the graduates had spent time abroad to gain academic credits. The drop is likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in widespread restrictions to cross-border mobility228.

Figure 31. COVID-19 resulted in a decline in credit mobility rates.
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The highest shares of credit-mobile graduates in the EU – combining both bachelor and master levels – are recorded by Luxembourg (25.9%) and France (25.6%)229, where approximately one in four graduates in 2021 had completed a temporary stay abroad (Figure 32). Only four other countries – the Netherlands (14.1%), Austria (12.4%), Sweden (11.7%), and Germany (11.2%) – have mobility rates exceeding 10%. In the remaining EU countries, fewer than 1 in 10 graduates had completed a temporary stay abroad during their studies. Compared to the pre-COVID-19 data from 2019, almost all EU countries have experienced a decline in the mobility rate230.

Figure 32. Fewer than 1 in 10 graduates have spent time abroad in most EU countries.
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Destinations within the EU were most popular among credit-mobile graduates in 2021231. Figure 33 shows intra-EU graduate credit mobility flows for the bachelor and master levels combined232. Countries recording the highest number of credit-mobile graduates who completed a temporary stay abroad in the EU are France (68 254)233, Germany (30 800), Spain (26 431), the Netherlands (9 308), and Italy (9 063). Four of these countries are also among those where most credit-mobile graduates from other EU countries are reported to have spent time abroad: Spain (35 254 graduates), Italy (24 652), Germany (22 047), and France (15 411). Here, Finland (10 794) completes the top five234.

Figure 33. France, Italy, Spain, and Germany are origin and destination countries for the bulk of intra-EU credit mobility.
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Limited growth in the share of credit-mobile graduates in the EU in the years leading up to 2021 suggests that there are other barriers to mobility besides those imposed by the pandemic that would need to be removed if the EU is to establish a European Education Area. Examples highlighted by young people in the EU include a lack of financial means, not feeling independent enough to go abroad for a longer period, insufficient foreign language skills, lack of information on the possibilities of studying abroad, or the experience not being recognised at home235.

The 2023 edition of the higher education Mobility Scoreboard shows progress has been made in developing and implementing policies favourable to learning mobility and in removing the obstacles hindering participation since 2011236. However, there are still issues to address and areas to improve in all EU education systems. Figure 34 provides an overview of the current performance of EU education systems relative to the mobility scoreboard indicators. At least half of EU education systems meet all or most criteria for five out of the six scoreboard indicators. The exception is support to disadvantaged learners, where only four education systems meet most or all criteria.

Figure 34. Support to disadvantaged learners lags behind the progress recorded in other areas.
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Box 18. Credit mobility under different funding schemes.

Credit mobility financed under EU programmes involved most credit-mobile graduates at the bachelor and master levels (52.8%). There are only four countries where less than 50% of the credit-mobile graduates took part in programmes financed by the EU: the Netherlands (40.0%), Denmark (37.8%), France (37.5%), and Sweden (37.0%). By contrast, programmes financed by the EU supported more than 80% of credit-mobile graduates in 16 EU countries.

Mobility under programmes financed by the EU is the main mode of credit mobility at bachelor level (60.9%), but it accounts for less than half of the credit mobility taking place at master level (45.8%). The corresponding percentages for short cycle tertiary education (data from 13 EU countries) and doctoral or equivalent level (data from 21 EU countries) are 48.7% and 32.3% respectively.

Although there are more credit-mobile master’s graduates that bachelor’s graduates, there are fewer graduates who took part in mobility funded under EU programmes. In 2021, there were 194 818 credit-mobile master’s graduates, of which 89 213 took part in mobility funded under EU programmes, and 167 331 bachelor’s graduates, of which 101 868 took part in mobility funded under EU programmes.

Moreover, there is a significantly higher proportion of ‘free movers’ – people who took part in credit mobility neither under EU programmes nor any other mobility programmes – at the master level (43.9%) compared to the bachelor level (29.5%). Credit mobility under other international or national mobility schemes account for 10.1% of mobility at bachelor level and 12.9% of mobility at master level.

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Mobility is not limited to temporary stays abroad. In 2021, there were over 305 000 degree-mobile graduates from tertiary education programmes at the bachelor and master level in the EU237. The number of inbound degree-mobile graduates in EU countries has increased by 23.3% in the past 5 years, and graduates completing a full degree in a country different from their country of origin now constitutes 8.4% of all graduates from these education levels in the EU (an increase of 1.3 percentage points from 2017). Slightly more than half of the inbound degree-mobile graduates are women (53.3%) and, like temporary stays abroad, the proportion is higher at bachelor level (57.4%) than master level (51.8%)238. In addition, more than two out of three (71.0%) inbound degree-mobile bachelor’s and master’s graduates originated in countries outside the EU239. There are also noticeable variations in the shares of women and men when considering degree mobility to EU countries by region of origin240.

Figure 35. The share of inbound degree-mobile bachelor’s and master’s graduates is increasing in the EU.
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The share of inbound degree-mobile bachelor’s and master’s graduates increased in all but five EU countries from 2017 to 2021 (Figure 35)241. Luxembourg (55.39%), Austria (21.2%), the Netherlands (18.8%), and Estonia (15.7%) have the highest shares relative to the number of graduates from their education systems, whereas the lowest shares are recorded by Greece (1.8%), Croatia (2.1%), and Italy (3.2%). In terms of absolute numbers, France (78 593), Germany (53 250), and the Netherlands (32 096) host the most degree-mobile graduates. In 2021, over 50% of degree-mobile graduates in the EU graduated in one of these three countries.

In a nutshell

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a decline in the proportion of graduates who spend time in another country during their studies, known as credit mobility. In 2021, only six EU countries had over 10% bachelor’s and master’s graduates participate in credit mobility. However, the pandemic is only one of many barriers to mobility in the EU. Despite progress being made since 2011, new evidence shows there is room for improvement in all EU countries. In contrast to the decline in the number of stays abroad, the proportion of graduates completing a full degree in a country other than their country of origin, known as degree mobility, has continued to increase. The many graduates from outside the EU, amounting to 71.0% of all inbound degree mobility, are a testament to the EU’s attractiveness as a study destination.

Notes

  • 209.This means having completed a short-cycle tertiary, bachelor, master, doctoral or equivalent level of education.

  • 210.Monitor Toolbox

  • 211.For instance, in terms of individual labour market outcomes, highly educated young people (86.4%) were more likely to be employed in 2022 than young people with a medium level of education (79.0%) and those with a low level of education (58.0%). Monitor Toolbox

  • 212.Caution is still needed. The estimates are based on a model built to describe future trends in the context of socioeconomic and political stability using known determinants. For this reason, only pre-COVID-19 data are included in the model. Although the estimates do not deviate substantially from the recorded attainment rates post-2019, this does not preclude delayed effects of the pandemic or other unknown determinants altering the trajectory in the coming years. See the 2023 report from the European Commission (Joint Research Centre).

  • 213.Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education is still the most common attainment level in the EU among 25-34-year-olds (43.4%), but the gap to tertiary level attainment has narrowed by a considerable margin (10.5 percentage points) over the past 10 years. Monitor Toolbox

  • 214.Looking at regional data, 2022 tertiary educational attainment rates are below 20% in Romania’s Sud-Muntenia (16.0%), Sud-Est (17.0%), Nord-Est (19.4%), and Vest (19.6%). Below-20% rates are also recorded in Czechia’s Severozápad (18.0%), Hungary’s Észak-Magyarország, and Italy’s Sicilia (19.9%). Monitor Toolbox For further details about the regional dimension, see the 2023 Eurostat regional yearbook.

  • 215.The gender gap in tertiary attainment rates reflects that more women than men chose to enter and complete higher education. Ensuring equal opportunities and gender equity will require institutional changes at tertiary level in the coming years. Also, the issue of gender equity at lower levels of education needs to be addressed. Gender gaps are introduced at an early age and continue to widen through the educational trajectory. A 2021 study on gender behaviour and its impact on education outcomes points to a direct link between boys’ underperformance in compulsory school education and the gender gap in tertiary educational attainment, as participation in higher education is highly dependent on grades and gaining an upper secondary education qualification. For an overview of other determinants underlying the gender gap identified in the literature, see a 2021 analytical report from the European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE).

  • 216.The relatively stable gender gap over the past 10 years contrasts with the period from 2003 to 2012, when the gender gap more than doubled (from 4.7 percentage points to 10.1 percentage points). Monitor Toolbox

  • 217.At EU country level, the gender gaps range from 4.6 percentage points to 23.8 percentage points. Only seven EU countries have gaps that are smaller than 10 percentage points. Moreover, in 17 EU countries, more than 50% of all 25-34-year-old women have a tertiary degree. In contrast, there are only four EU countries where more than half of 25-34-year-old men have a tertiary degree. Monitor Toolbox

  • 218.Most young people (25-34-year-olds) in the EU who have attained a tertiary level qualification are women (55.9%), which is also the case in all EU countries. Monitor Toolbox

  • 219.Women account for the majority people with a tertiary education within education (80.6%) and health and welfare (75.2%), whereas men are dominant within ICT (80.4%) and engineering, manufacturing, and construction (75.1%). Monitor Toolbox

  • 220.STEM encompasses natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, ICT, engineering, manufacturing, and construction. There are more men with tertiary level qualifications within the STEM fields (70.2%) than women (29.8%). Noticeably, the gap within natural sciences, mathematics and statistics is much narrower than the other constituent STEM fields at 7.3 percentage points, with more women (53.7%) than men (46.3%) having obtained tertiary level attainment. Monitor Toolbox

  • 221.A detailed overview of Europe’s digital performance and progress of EU countries is provided by the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI).

  • 222.The targets on basic digital skills and ICT specialists are 2 of the 12 EU-level targets established under the Digital Decade policy programme.

  • 223.Only 2.0% of women in the 25-34 age bracket with tertiary level attainment have a degree in the field of ICT. By contrast, 10.4% of men in this age group gained qualifications in ICT. This is reflected in the number of graduates from higher education in ICT, which is male dominated (78.8% of graduates in 2022). Monitor Toolbox

  • 224.Monitor Toolbox

  • 225.For a country to be considered as having these measures, the following more specific aspects have been taken into account: a strategy for gender equality exists for all institutions; the targets in the strategy are measurable (quantitative); a stakeholder consultation for the strategy has taken place; and quality assurance agencies are required to monitor progress of strategy implementation.

  • 226.This refers to all graduates in the EU, regardless of country of origin, with a temporary tertiary education study period and/or work placement abroad (within or outside the EU) of at least 3 months or 15 ECTS credits throughout the cycle of study.

  • 227.More women than men in the EU complete a temporary study period abroad. In 2021, 58.5% of the credit-mobile bachelor’s and master’s graduates were women. The share was slightly for female bachelor’s graduates (62.8%) compared to female master’s graduates (54.8%). However, relative to the respective graduate populations a different picture emerges. While the combined rates for the bachelor and master levels show no discernible difference (9.8% for women and 9.7% for men), there are marked differences between the two levels of education. At bachelor level, the mobility rate is higher for women (8.2%) than men (6.9%). The opposite is the case at the master level, where the mobility rate is higher for men (13.9%) than women (12.0%). The rates are higher for women in both short cycle tertiary education (2.7% versus 2.5%) and at doctoral or equivalent level (12.5% versus 11.5%). Monitor Toolbox

  • 228.Despite an increase in graduates at all levels of tertiary education, the number of credit-mobile graduates in the EU dropped from 2020 to 2021 in short-cycle tertiary education (-9.3%, but data are limited to 16 EU countries), at bachelor or equivalent level (-15.8%), and at master or equivalent level (-9.5%). At doctoral or equivalent level there was an increase in credit-mobile graduates (+15.9%, but data are limited to 22 EU countries), mainly due to a 40.2% increase in credit-mobile graduates reported by Italy. Without the Italian data, there would have been a decrease of 1.5%. Monitor Toolbox

  • 229.French data on credit-mobile graduates are obtained by applying the rates of tertiary education graduates in 2017 who had a temporary stay abroad to the 2020 graduate data. This means that the data does not account for a possible decline in the number of credit-mobile graduates due to the COVID-19 pandemic and should be interpreted with caution.

  • 230.France (+4.5 percentage points) is the only EU country recording a noteworthy increase in the share of credit-mobile graduates compared to the -COVID-19 data, but the 2021 data does not account for a possible decline in the number of credit-mobile graduates due to the estimation method applied to get the figures. Bulgaria did not experience any change, and in Estonia the difference is negligible. Monitor Toolbox

  • 231.At least 50.5% of graduates recorded by EU countries (at bachelor and master level combined) in 2021 who had a credit mobility stay abroad completed it in an EU country. The share is likely to be higher since Germany, the country with the second-highest number of outbound credit-mobile graduates, only reports breakdowns by country of destination for seven EU countries (aggregated data are reported and contribute towards the calculation of the share). There are only four EU countries (France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden) where less than 50% of credit-mobile graduates chose to travel to a destination within the EU. Monitor Toolbox

  • 232.The emphasis of the data collection on credit-mobile graduates is on whether a credit mobility stay abroad took place during the cycle of study. Only the longest credit mobility stays, or highest number of ECTS credits, are reported. As a result, credit mobility by country of destination could be misleading, as it is possible for a graduate to have had more than one credit mobility stay in different countries.

  • 233.French data on credit-mobile graduates are obtained by applying the rates of tertiary education graduates in 2017 who had a temporary stay abroad to the 2020 graduate data. This means that the data do not account for a possible decline in the number of credit-mobile graduates due to the COVID-19 pandemic and should be interpreted with caution.

  • 234.Outside the EU, the five most popular destinations are the United Kingdom (40 150 graduates), the United States (28 211), Canada (16 509), China (10 057), and Australia (8 369). Monitor Toolbox

  • 235.More details are available in a European Commission 2022 report on Youth and Democracy in the European Year of Youth.

  • 236.See the 2023 Eurydice higher education background report on the Mobility Scoreboard.

  • 237.Degree-mobile graduates are those who completed a tertiary education programme taught in a country different from their country of origin. Only inbound degree-mobile graduates reported by EU countries are considered here. In 2021, in the EU, there were 7 983 degree-mobile graduates in short-cycle tertiary education, 115 220 at bachelor level, 189 884 at master level, and 21 724 at doctoral level. Monitor Toolbox. For a recent analysis on the profile of internationally mobile students around the world, including an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on international student migration, see the OECD's Education at a Glance 2023.

  • 238.There is also a higher share of degree-mobile women in short-cycle tertiary education (56.3%), while the share is lower at doctoral or equivalent level (43.9%). Monitor Toolbox

  • 239.Graduates from Asia (23.2%) account for the highest share of degree-mobile graduates, followed by Africa (17.9%), Caribbean, Central and South America (7.4%), European graduates from non-EU countries (13.7%), Northern America (2.4%), and Oceania (0.2%). Although there have been increases in degree-mobile graduates from all regions in the past 5 years, the relative distribution has remained stable. Monitor Toolbox

  • 240.In 2021, there were more degree-mobile female than male bachelor’s and master’s graduates originating in the EU (58.4%), European countries outside the EU (61.7%), Northern America (57.0%), and Caribbean, Central and South America (54.4%). Conversely there were more degree-mobile men than women originating in Africa (54.5%), Asia (52.3%), and Oceania (50.8%). Monitor Toolbox

  • 241.Italy (-1.6 percentage points), Croatia (-1.0), Spain (-0.8) and Cyprus (-0.2) recorded declines in the share of degree-mobile graduates from 2017 to 2021. There were also declines recorded in Ireland (-0.1 percentage points) and Cyprus (-0.2), but these were negligible. Monitor Toolbox