School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in North America
North America: School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes was 3.94 years in 2019. ▲ Rising
School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in North America, 1970–2019
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in North America is 3.94 years, measured in 2019.
That represents a change of down 2.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in North America peaked at 4.33 years in 2011 and was at its lowest, 2.37 years, in 1970.
North America ranks 1st of 43 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 50 years of available data.
School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in North America, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 2.37 years | — |
| 1971 | 2.37 years | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 2.41 years | +1.7% |
| 1973 | 2.43 years | +0.9% |
| 1974 | 2.45 years | +0.7% |
| 1975 | 2.54 years | +3.8% |
| 1976 | 2.7 years | +6.5% |
| 1977 | 2.63 years | -2.6% |
| 1978 | 2.67 years | +1.2% |
| 1979 | 2.64 years | -0.9% |
| 1980 | 2.7 years | +2.1% |
| 1981 | 2.8 years | +3.9% |
| 1982 | 2.87 years | +2.4% |
| 1983 | 2.91 years | +1.3% |
| 1984 | 2.96 years | +1.6% |
| 1985 | 2.96 years | +0.1% |
| 1986 | 3.02 years | +2.1% |
| 1987 | 3.16 years | +4.6% |
| 1988 | 3.31 years | +4.5% |
| 1989 | 3.45 years | +4.4% |
| 1990 | 3.65 years | +5.9% |
| 1991 | 3.77 years | +3.0% |
| 1992 | 3.98 years | +5.8% |
| 1993 | 4.01 years | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 4.01 years | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 4.01 years | +0.2% |
| 1996 | 3.99 years | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 3.76 years | -5.8% |
| 1998 | 3.53 years | -6.2% |
| 1999 | 3.16 years | -10.3% |
| 2000 | 3.03 years | -4.2% |
| 2001 | 3.12 years | +3.0% |
| 2002 | 3.57 years | +14.3% |
| 2003 | 3.62 years | +1.4% |
| 2004 | 3.67 years | +1.6% |
| 2005 | 3.7 years | +0.6% |
| 2006 | 3.78 years | +2.3% |
| 2007 | 3.8 years | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 3.89 years | +2.6% |
| 2009 | 4.04 years | +3.6% |
| 2010 | 4.25 years | +5.2% |
| 2011 | 4.33 years | +1.9% |
| 2012 | 4.31 years | -0.3% |
| 2013 | 4.07 years | -5.6% |
| 2014 | 4.02 years | -1.1% |
| 2015 | 3.99 years | -0.9% |
| 2016 | 3.96 years | -0.8% |
| 2017 | 3.94 years | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 3.94 years | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 3.94 years | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.52 years | 2.37 years | 2.7 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.02 years | 2.7 years | 3.45 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.79 years | 3.16 years | 4.01 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.62 years | 3.03 years | 4.04 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.07 years | 3.94 years | 4.33 years | 10 |
Countries ranked near North America
More education data for North America
- Population ages 0-14 16.9% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.5% (2025)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 2.04 million (2024)
- School enrollment, primary 96.8% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 2.04 million (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per capita 0.0053 units per person (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 96.2% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male 97.4% (2024)
- Labor force, total, per capita 0.5155 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in North America?
- School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in North America was 3.94 years in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 4.33 years in 2011.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.37 years in 1970.
- How does North America rank for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes?
- North America ranks 1st out of 43 groups with data for 2019.
- Is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North America data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Number of years a person of school entrance age can expect to spend within the specified level of education. For a child of a certain age a, the school life expectancy is calculated as the sum of the age specific enrolment rates for the levels of education specified. The part of the enrolment that is not distributed by age is divided by the school-age population for the level of education they are enrolled in, and multiplied by the duration of that level of education. The result is then added to the sum of the age-specific enrolment rates. A relatively high SLE indicates greater probability for children to spend more years in education and higher overall retention within the education system. It must be noted that the expected number of years does not necessarily coincide with the expected number of grades of education completed, because of repetition. Since school life expectancy is an average based on participation in different levels of education, the expected number of years of schooling may be pulled down by the magnitude of children who never go to school. Those children who are in school may benefit from many more years of education than the average.