Worldwide Education

Around the world, education is funded in different ways, yielding different outcomes. In Europe, the state typically still pays for the institutional costs of instruction; students pay little or no tuition, but are responsible for living costs; and most universities are public. In many Asian countries (such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines), most students attend private universities and colleges and pay the full cost of their education. Tuition is also charged in the small and relatively elite public higher education sector. In the United States, a mix of public and private institutions exists; 80 percent of students attend public colleges and universities, where they pay tuition amounting to something like a quarter or more of the actual cost of instruction, with public funds and other resources covering the rest. The remaining 20 percent study in private institutions, where students pay the bulk of the cost of education.

Many people scowl at the idea of reforming to a European model of school funding, believing that the taxes would be exponentially higher. However, this is not necessarily true. In most EU countries, the standard rate of tax is 20%. The higher rate is 42% for those whom earn over a certain variable gross