To change the world you need a good education, those were the thoughts of Nelson Mandela.
Today the opportunities available to people globally are growing and evolving.
There is recognition and understanding that educating people is the best way to help them improve their situation and ultimately help themselves.
The education industry statistics show that this sector continues to expand, especially with the advent and expansion of online learning showing no sign of slowing down.
People want to learn, and the digital world gives them the opportunity to enhance their education.
We take a look at some of the most interesting educational trends and statistics to offer insight into this important area of life.
Education Industry Statistics
In 2019 the education industry was valued at $1.57 trillion.
There is expected to be ongoing growth around the rate of 2.77% and by 2025 it is estimated that the education industry will be valued at $1.96 trillion dollars.
In the United States universities and colleges are estimated to be worth $566 billion which includes both private and public institutions.
They all provide higher education including graduate degrees and Bachelor’s degrees.
This valuation also includes professional education such as medical, dental and law degrees as well as military academies.
However this industry subset doesn’t include any community colleges.
Community colleges in the United States are currently valued at approximately $60 billion.
This sector includes post secondary education institutions that provide full 2 year associate degrees which are transferable to colleges and universities.
The Information Technology and Business Certification industry had an estimated value of $3 billion across the country in 2021.
The courses offered are mostly technical and vocational ranging from electronics technology to computer programming.
Professional development courses in the Business Coaching industry along with leadership and management courses have an estimated market value of $11 billion.
Fine Art schools are valued at $6 billion in the US.
These schools offer music, dance, art instruction and photography among other related subjects.
They do not translate into academic qualifications, however.
Vocational education and technical training have an estimated market value of $14 billion with the education industry.
This diversified sector offers courses and certifications in medical technician training, flight schools and firefighter instruction.
Statistics In Online Education
Online education or eLearning was already on an upward trajectory in 2020, but the global pandemic accelerated this trend with most in-person institutions being forced to close.
In some countries the online learning industry has therefore experienced unprecedented growth.
Approximately 1.2 billion students were affected by the closures of schools in more than 186 countries.
Google Classroom and similar services as well as platforms such as Zoom have become the means by which many students begin or continue their studies.
By February 2021 43% of 4th to 8th graders were enrolled in online classes and 82% attended schools that offered online remote learning to all students.
Another 21% of these students received hybrid instruction.
In 2019 the global online learning industry was estimated to be worth $101 billion.
By 2026 if current trends continue the estimates are that it will exceed $370 billion.
Between 2017 and 2022 the Online Tutoring Industry has grown at a rate of 7.2% and the industry revenues for this year were $1.5 billion.
Using Apps For Education
The use of apps in the education industry has continued to grow and enhance the learning process for millions of students.
There is a huge variety of content and methods available to allow people of all ages to increase their knowledge and skills via these applications.
One example is the growth of language learning apps such as Duolingo which is a market leader in offering bite sized lessons and reward systems for learners.
Picture This is an app that seeks to help users recognize plants from photographs and teach about plant care.
In terms of revenue the purchase of apps and in-app purchases continues to be dominated by Apple with consistently more than 80% of the market.
Google in comparison has between 15% and 23% of the market.
Mobile applications are specifically designed to be used on phones and tablets.
With that in mind, an educational app can make use of a phone’s accelerometer or a tablet’s drawing stylus.
Compared to the software systems for desktop computers a mobile app offers a unique and specific functionality.
Statistics On Higher Education
Having a higher education degree increases the chances of having stable employment and higher pay.
Most people follow a particular path in their career which over time adds to their professional development through education.
Graduating from high school is an important first step towards a career and better employment prospects.
Those who do graduate on average earn $8,000 per year compared to those who do not finish high school.
Graduates also reduce the risk of unemployment to 3.7%.
Going on to higher education further lowers the unemployment rate and raises the pay rate.
A Bachelor’s degree will increase pay on average by around $26,000 while also lowering the unemployment rate to 2.2%.
When comparing those with a Bachelor’s degree versus high school graduates there is still an obvious gender difference.
Men with a higher education earned $900,000 more in a lifetime than men with just a high school diploma.
Women with a Bachelor’s degree earned $630,000 more than high school graduates.
By the fall of 2020 there were around 19.4 million students enrolled in college or university.
11.9 million of them were full time, and 7.5 million attended part time.
Of those students, 16.2 million were studying as undergraduates and 3.1 million were in graduate programs.
While the number of students in higher education increases, so does the cost.
For a 4 year Bachelor’s degree in 1963 the cost was $5,144, in 1989 it was $52,892.
Today for in-state tuition students typically spend $25,487 per year which adds up to over $100,000 for a 4 year in-state degree at a public university or college.
Out-of-state tuition is more expensive with students paying $27,023 per year.
Comparing the academic years 2009-2010 and 2018-2019, public universities and colleges earned 29% more revenue from fees and tuition via their full time students.
Statistics In The Education Field
Tutoring is a big business and there are over 350,000 tutors employed in the United States.
On average, they earn $35,162 although the top 10% earn $53,000 or more.
In comparison to tutors, high school teachers earn $62,870 per year.
They will have gained a Bachelor’s degree in order to begin their careers.
The growth rate for high school teacher salaries is about average at 8% predicted between 2020 and 2030.
The vast majority of teachers are employed in the public sector. In 2019-2020 this accounted for 3.2 million teachers.
In comparison, only 500,000 teachers taught in private schools.
Special education teachers earn on average $61,500 and most have a Bachelor’s degree.
In the 2019-2020 academic year 14% of all public school students had to use special education services, that’s 7.3 million students.
One third of those students had a specific learning disability, 19% had a language or speech impairment, 15% had other health impairments and 11% were diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum.
Principals in schools which range from kindergarten to 12th grade earn around $98,490 per year.
However, to become a principal the entry level education is a Master’s degree.
College professors earn an average salary of $80,560 per year and will typically have a Ph.D.
However, professors in community colleges may have a Master’s degree.
The employment of college professors is predicted to grow by 12% which is faster than for the average career.
Educational Attainment In Rural Areas
Many positive correlations are drawn between having higher levels of education and other outcomes such as employment, health, and a higher standard of living.
For those who live in more rural areas the opportunities for education are not as plentiful as for those in cities.
In 2019, it was estimated that adults over the age of 25 more commonly had high school degrees as their highest level of education.
More specifically, 34% of adults in rural areas had a high school degree in comparison to 31% who had some college education, 25% who had a Bachelor’s degree and 11% who did not even have a high school degree.
Adults over 25 living in cities and suburban areas had a higher percentage of Bachelor’s degrees as their highest level of education attainment than any other level of education.
37% of this group held a bachelor degree or higher compared to 25% of those in rural areas.
Living in remote rural areas means that some adults do not complete high school, around 13% as surveyed in 2019.
Those who earned a Bachelor’s degree or higher were 19% compared to 38% in some large cities and suburban areas.
Revenue In Education
The education industry generates large amounts of revenue and provides employment to millions of people.
Revenue in the US from higher education alone is around $400 billion and around $5.6 trillion is spent annually on training and education globally.
The rising adoption of online learning and increased demand for digital learning tools are predicted to help the growth of the US education industry in the global market.
By 2028 expected revenue should reach $1.5 trillion.
In 2021 revenue in the global market from US education stood at $1.2 trillion and is expected to grow at a compound rate of 4.3% annually.
The number of businesses who form part of the education industry is 1,662,012 with the industry employing more than 14,305,133 people.
Some of the biggest companies in the education services industry in the US are the New York City department of education, the University of California, Apollo Education Group Inc, and Spring Education Group.
The largest market share in terms of revenue was the application sector which is expected to maintain its dominance for the foreseeable future.
This market increase is credited to the demand for online studying and eLearning products.
Revenue From Apps In Education
From 2017 to 2022 revenue from educational apps has increased from over half a billion dollars to $1.72 billion.
This trend is predicted to continue with revenue in this area increasing to $2.3 billion by 2026.
To put this in perspective however these increases are made up of three different revenue types, advertising, in-app purchases and paid apps.
In 2017 of the half billion dollars in revenue, $409 million came from advertising, $129 million from in-app purchases and just $11.82 million from paid apps.
By 2022, the total revenue of $1.72 billion comprised over $1 billion from advertising, $662 million from in-app purchases and $29 million from paid apps.
Forecasts predict that by 2026 revenue from educational apps will be $2.3 billion with $1.3 billion coming from advertising, $916 from in-app purchases and $38 million from paid apps.
Advertising continues to make up the largest portion of revenue from education apps.
The average revenue per download has not changed very significantly over the past five years.
In 2017, it was $3.45, by 2021 it had risen to just $4.69 and dropped in 2022 to $4.44.
It is expected that the revenue per download will remain around $4.50 for the next few years.
This is despite the fact that the number of downloads has increased from 159 million in 2017 to almost 388 million in 2022.
By 2026 it is expected that downloads will exceed 500 million.
The revenue earned in the US for 2022 from education apps stands at $1,721 million while in China for the same period revenue was $3,255 million.
This is mostly because many of the apps available in the West are not available in China, so they have had to produce their own.
Frequently Asked Questions On Education Industry Statistics
What Are The Main Education Industry Sectors?
As we have seen there are a number of different education industry sectors.
Some are more obvious than others. There are universities and colleges, which covers higher education.
For younger students there is K-12 which is kindergarten to 12th grade.
This is elementary and secondary education.
Private education is also a large sector of the education industry and these also provide services such as exam preparation and tutoring.
Other support and supplementary services include education technology and publishing.
All of these services work together and provide the education system in the United States.
They each have an important role and offer opportunities to students, and businesses.
What Is The Market Size Of The Educational Services Industry In The US?
In 2022 the market size of this industry was $1.8 trillion as measured by revenue and has grown on average 2.1% per year between 2017 and 2022.
Is Education A Growing Industry?
Education is a fast growing industry and the range of ways in which it can be delivered has contributed to this growth.
As well as the colleges and universities available to students there are many private and not-for-profit schools.
These institutions also offer degrees and other advanced programs.
Many high schools now also allow students to pursue multiple pathways that lead to college, with some offering high quality preparatory programs.
Apart from the traditional education system there are now many companies offering tuition and online courses in everything from cooking to computer science.
These small businesses also form part of the education industry.
With the push to improve education to develop and expand job opportunities the growth in education shows no signs of slowing down.
What Type Of Industry Is Education?
While many people may not consider education as an industry in the traditional sense it is however an industry in its own right while also being part of many others.
The materials used in education from text books to computers and software are part of different industries with regard to their origin, but their destination will be the education industry.
Services such as tutoring or exam preparation are also part of this industry.
Finally not forgetting the diversity of professions that the education industry employs, teachers, professors, librarians, administrators and counselors.
So this is a diverse industry that is closely connected to many others that it relies on.
Final Thoughts
The education industry is huge and comprises many different markets which contribute to it.
From traditional schools, colleges and universities to eLearning and private schools there are many subsets of learning environments.
Many people rely on the industry for a living and of course the students rely on the education industry to provide them with the education they want and need.
We hope this look at some education industry statistics has been helpful to you and that you have learned something.
