Which are the world’s smartest countries?

Which are the world’s smartest countries? Which country has the highest percentage of people with post-secondary education? Apparently college and university graduation rates have increased in half a century by almost 200 percent, but the rates among countries vary greatly. An interesting ranking was recently reported by Yahoo News, on the ten smartest countries of the world. Listed below are the world’s 10 smartest countries.

Canada:

Canada ranks first on the list when it comes to the smartest and educated countries. Half of the country’s adult population has a post-secondary degree, certificate or diploma. According to Yahoo, 68 percent of Canadians aged 15 and above had a post- secondary education. In 2011, 53 percent of Canadians aged 15 and over had trade certificates, college and university degrees. Each year, public and private expenditure on education amount to 2.5 percent of the GDP. Also, 71 percent of women- aged 25-44 had completed their university or college education as compared to 65 percent of men of the same age group. Meanwhile, the percentage of individuals with university degrees rose from 10.9 percent in 1990 to 22.5 percent in 2012.

Israel:

Surprisingly, Israel ranks second on the list when it comes to smartest and educated countries. Just 64 years ago, higher education was reserved for a selected few. According to the Council for Higher Learning, there were about 1,600 students who enrolled in post-secondary education. By 2010- 2011, that number skyrocketed to 206,000, 61 percent of whom were studying in the country’s universities. In fact, in 2006, 46 percent of adults aged 25-64 had tertiary education. Today Israeli graduates are known for being among the world’s leaders in the fields like engineering, physics, computer science, economics and social sciences. Some of the Israeli scholars who have made their name in science are Naum Akhieser and Amikam Aharoni.

Japan:

The kind of technological and scientific innovations that come from Japan, it is not hard to believe that the country ranks third in the list when it comes to most educated and smartest countries. According to the reports by MSN News, 44 percent of the country’s 127.9 million people have gone on to pursue higher education. The country had produced 15 noble laureates in fields like physics, chemistry and medicine, and is the undisputed world leader when it comes to robotics. Some of the noble laureates are Akira Suzuki, a noble prize winner in Chemistry in the year 2010 and Makoto Kobayashi for Physics in 2008.

United States:

United States ranks fourth on the list of the smartest and the most educated countries. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2009-2010, there were 4,495 colleges and universities across U.S. Interestingly, more and more women have been a part of higher education. Overall, women have surpassed men when it comes to completing secondary and post-secondary education. In 2005 and 2006, women earned 58 percent of the country’s bachelor degrees, 60 percent of Masters Degree and 49 percent of Doctorates. Some of America’s noble laureates are Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, the Noble Memorial Prize winner in Economic Sciences (2001) and John Lewis Hall, Noble Prize in Physics in 2005.

New Zealand:

New Zealand ranks fifth for the smartest and educated countries. The rate of adult literacy in the country is 99 percent. While, 40 percent of the entire population has a university degree. In 1961, the University of New Zealand was the only university in the country. Today, New Zealand has six independent universities and colleges, and some more institutions have started to cater to the country's four million inhabitants.

South Korea:

South Korea ranks sixth in the lists after New Zealand. Education in this country is extremely strict. Employment and Status are based on university studies and academic excellence, thus creating a sense of competition among the students. Due to these reasons only, 39 percent of the population has a university degree. South Korea is also one of the two countries, other than Finland- in which most popular fields of study are not social sciences, law and business. In South Korea, students choose to study humanities and arts as their choice, as reported by Skeptikai, a institution based in Japan.

Norway, Finland, United Kingdom, Australia:

The seventh place for the smartest country in the world is shared among these four countries. In Norway and Finland, 37 percent of the population has university degrees because in these countries, tuition fee is free. In Norway, 23 percent of the expenditure is spent on tertiary education. In Norway, more than 60 percent of all tertiary graduates were in a bachelor’s program, well more than the U.S. In Finland majority of the students take up engineering, manufacturing and construction studies.

Australia draws a large number of international students. In Australia, 37 percent of the population has university degrees. Australian universities have a deserved reputation for high international quality. United Kingdom also draws a large number of international students. Like Australia, 37 percent of the population in UK has university degrees and here too the university standards are very much high.

Estonia and Ireland:

The eighth place is shared by Estonia and Ireland. In these two countries, 36 percent of the population holds university degrees. Estonia has an impressive number of institutions which offers wide range of courses like environmental sciences, material technology and semiotics. Ireland meanwhile has a history of producing intellectuals some of whom include Robert Boyle, one of the founders of modern chemistry, John Tyndall, who discovered the Tyndall effect which explains why the sky is blue and George Jhonstone Stoney, who introduced the term ‘electron.’

Luxembourg and Switzerland:

Luxembourg shares the ninth spot with Switzerland. The country has only one university, yet 35 percent of the population has a university degree which is remarkable achievement.

Switzerland also boasts alone as a seat of important international organization like the United Nations, World Health Organization and serious intellectuals at the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

Denmark:

Well this might be interesting because in Denmark not only is the tuition fee free, but the state pays the students to go to the university. But this rule mostly applies to Danish citizens, a shock to all the foreign students. Even with all these benefits, it is surprising to learn that only 34 percent of the population chooses to pursue higher education. There are many management courses in the country? like Hotel Management.