Education at a Glance: Share of tertiary-educated young adults in Finland still below OECD average

In Finland, the share of young adults with a tertiary degree (39%) remains lower than the OECD average (48%). The figures are from the OECD’s Education at a Glance publication, which compares education systems in different countries.

The 2025 edition focuses on higher education and analyses tertiary systems by comparing the distribution of degree types. In Finland, the share of 25–34-year-olds with a degree is below the OECD average in all types of tertiary qualifications.

In 2024, 15% of young adults in Finland had completed a master’s degree, compared to the OECD average of 16%. In other Nordic countries, the share was higher, including 20% in Denmark.  The share of bachelor’s degree holders in Finland was also below the OECD average.

The most significant difference between Finland and the OECD average is that Finland’s education system does not include short-cycle tertiary programmes. On average, 7% of young adults in OECD countries have completed such a degree.

Gap years a Finnish characteristic

The OECD also highlights some specific features of Finland’s higher education system, such as the relatively late average starting age (24 years in Finland, the OECD average 22 years) and the prevalence of gap years before starting studies (77% of new students in Finland, the OECD average 44%).

A contributing factor is Finland’s selective higher education admission system. While differences in statistical practices exist, Finland admits the lowest share of applicants to higher education (29%) among the countries compared. Sweden is almost as selective, but in many OECD countries, more than half of applicants gain admission – for example, in France the share is 82%.

In Finland, the number of non-admitted applicants is also raised by the high proportion of foreign applicants, which, however, decreased significantly in 2025 following the introduction of an application fee for foreign applicants.

Higher completion rates and fewer dropouts in Finland

As a counterbalance to the selective admission system, Finland’s completion rates are above the OECD average. In Finland, 49% of students complete a bachelor’s degree within the expected time frame, compared to the OECD average of 43%.

Finland also stands out with very low dropout rates: only 5% of new students discontinue studies during their first year, whereas in many other countries, including the Nordic countries, 10–20% of students drop out in the first year.

Student numbers up, but per-student expenditure down

Between 2015 and 2022, the number of tertiary students in Finland grew by 12%, well above the OECD average (5%).

Over the same period, Finland’s total expenditure on higher education (including research and development expenditure) decreased by 3% in real terms, while OECD countries saw an average increase of 14.2%. As a result, per-student expenditure in Finland fell by 13.5%, the second largest drop among OECD countries after Mexico. On average, per-student expenditure grew by 8.6% in OECD countries.

In several peer countries such as Sweden (-8%), the Netherlands (-4%) and Canada (-7%) per-student expenditure also decreased, but in these countries, student numbers grew even faster than in Finland (Sweden +16%, Netherlands +19%, Canada +17%). In these countries, expenditure growth has not kept pace with student number growth.

Education at a Glance 2025 on the OECD website

Enquiries: Jukka Haapamäki, Counsellor of Education, tel. +358 295 330 088