Jobs for the Future commissioned this report to provide an international perspective on the productivity agenda of Making Opportunity Affordable, a multiyear initiative focused on increasing productivity within U.S. higher education, particularly at two-year and four-year public colleges and universities. Hauptman and Kim compare and analyze data on:

• Cost: The amount that countries spend on tertiary education per student;
  

• Commitment: The share of GDP a country spends on tertiary education; and
  

• Attainment: The share of working-age adults holding a tertiary education degree.
  

The report suggests three approaches that the United States should consider to achieve higher attainment at sustainable levels of costs and commitment:

• Focus more resources and attention on community colleges.
  

• Pay more attention to developing and implementing strategies to improve completion rates at both two-year and four-year institutions.
  

• Consider increases in enrollments as a means for moderating costs per student and improving productivity.