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As justification for dismantling the federal Department of Education, President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that U.S. schools are “ranked 40 out of 40” in educational outcomes compared with other countries, while the U.S. “ranked No. 1 in cost per pupil.” Neither claim is accurate.
U.S. high school students performed above average in science and reading, and a bit below average in math, according to the latest data compiled by the intergovernmental Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. And in other international assessments, elementary students in the U.S. scored above average in math, science and reading.
During the campaign, Trump made no secret of his desire to dismantle the federal Department of Education. As president, Trump said that remains his goal.
Trump told reporters on Feb. 4 that he had said to Linda McMahon, his nominee to be Education secretary, “‘Linda I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.'”
Trump said he wants to “let the states run schools,” and that he would funnel most of the funding for the Department of Education to states. As a technical matter, states and local communities already run the schools — setting the curriculum and teacher certification standards. As the Department of Education explains, “the Federal role in education [is] as a kind of ’emergency response system,’ a means of filling gaps in State and local support for education when critical national needs arise.” In practice, FindLaw explains, “the federal government focuses on providing supplementary support and coordination at the national level. For instance, it implements programs and provides crucial services to disadvantaged populations” and it recommends teaching strategies.
According to the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, federal government funding made up about 11% of the revenues for elementary and secondary public schools in the 2020-21 school year. The rest of the revenues come from state and local funding. Trump has said his plan is to effect a “virtual closure of Department of Education in Washington” and instead give federal education funds directly to states.
In response to a reporter’s question on Feb. 4 about whether he intended to shutter the Department of Education, Trump repeatedly came back to his false claims about the U.S. ranking in educational achievement and the country’s per pupil spending.
“We spend more money per pupil than any other nation in the world, and yet we’re rated No. 40,” Trump said. “The last rating just came out, you saw them. So they talk about 40 countries, we’re rated No. 40. … We have to tell the teachers union, we’re rated last in the world in education, of the Top 40. … The thing just came out. That’s under [former President Joe] Biden, remember that.”
We should note that Trump has been making these same claims for years, as far back as when he was running for president in 2016. As we wrote in May 2016, he was wrong on both counts, as he is now. His campaign at the time did not respond when we asked for a source for the claims, and neither did the White House press office when we made a similar request this week.
Educational Outcomes
We could find no international ranking of education outcomes that has the U.S. dead last, as Trump claimed.
When Trump mentions 40 peer countries, he appears to be talking about the 37 OECD countries that participate in the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which the NCES conducts in coordination with the OECD every three years in reading, math and science for 15-year-old students. The latest results are from 2022.
In no PISA category, however, does the U.S. rank last. Rather, the U.S. scored above average among OECD countries in reading and science (subjects in which the U.S. ranked 6th and 12th, respectively). The average U.S. score in math was lower, but not significantly, than the OECD average. The U.S. ranking in math was 28th.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the PISA results:
- In reading, the U.S. average score of 504 was higher than the OECD average score of 476. Compared with the other 36 participating OECD members, the U.S. ranked 6th. Ireland and Japan were tied for the top ranking with an average score of 516, and Colombia was lowest with a score of 409. Looking at all of the 81 countries in the dataset, including non-OECD countries, the U.S. ranked 9th.
- In science, the U.S. score of 499 was higher than the OECD average of 485. Among the 37 participating OECD countries, the U.S. ranked 12th. Japan was highest with a score of 547, and Mexico was lowest with a score of 410. Looking at all 81 countries in the PISA study, the U.S. ranked 16th.
- In math, the U.S. average score of 465 ranked 28th out of 37 OECD countries. The U.S. score was lower than the OECD average of 472, though the difference was not statistically significant. The country with the highest average score was Japan (536), and the lowest was Colombia (383). Looking at all of the 81 countries in the PISA data, the U.S. math literacy score ranked 34th.
Notably, the situation was very similar in the 2018 PISA assessment during Trump’s first term in office. As in 2022, the U.S. performed above the OECD average in reading and science, and below the OECD average in math.
We should also note that U.S. scores in math, science and reading in 2022 were all lower than in 2018. But the U.S. ranking compared with other OECD countries was relatively the same or better, because scores around the world dipped post-pandemic.
From 2018 to 2022, the OECD average in PISA dropped by almost 15 points in math (it dropped by 13 points in the U.S.), by about 10 points in reading (though by just 1 point in the U.S.) and “remained stable” in science (though it dropped by 3 points in the U.S.). According to the OECD, “The unprecedented drops in mathematics and reading point to the shock effect of COVID-19 on most countries.”
A second international assessment of students is known as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which is given every four years to fourth- and eighth-grade students.
In 2023, with an average score of 517 in math, U.S. fourth graders scored 14 points above the international average, and ranked 28th out of 63 countries. In science, the U.S. average score of 532 was also above the international average, by 38 points, and the U.S. ranked 15th out of 63 countries.
For eighth graders in the TIMSS assessment, the U.S. average in 2023 in math (488) was 10 points above the international average and ranked 24th out of 45 countries. In science, U.S. eighth graders’ average score (513) was 47 points above the international average and ranked 16th out of 45 countries.
The third and final assessment we reviewed is the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, which is administered every five years to fourth-grade students. In 2021, the latest data available, the U.S. had an average score of 548, which was 48 points above the median, and the U.S. ranked 6th out of 33 countries. Ireland (577) was tops, and South Africa (288) was lowest.
In short, the U.S. was not last by any of these measures.
Spending Per Pupil
Trump was also wrong to say that the U.S. spends the most per pupil.
The cost of higher education — college-level education — is very high in the U.S. According to the OECD, U.S. expenditures for tertiary education (post-high school, including college) were the highest among OECD countries in 2021. At $36,274 per pupil, that was 77% higher than the OECD average. According to the OECD, 39% of U.S. spending for higher education was public expenditure (compared with an OECD average of 68%).
But a handful of other countries spent more than the U.S. on primary and secondary schooling.
For example, while the total spending per pupil at the primary level — elementary school — in the U.S. ($15,270) was 28% higher than the OECD average ($11,902), the U.S. ranked 6th behind Luxembourg ($25,584), Norway ($18,037), Iceland ($16,786), Denmark ($15,598) and Austria ($15,415). According to the OECD, 93% of total expenditure on primary institutions comes from public sources in the U.S.
Looking at secondary education — high school — the U.S. per pupil expenditure ($16,301) was 22% higher than the OECD average but below Norway ($19,831), Austria ($19,049), South Korea ($19,299), the Netherlands ($17,909), Belgium ($17,525), Germany ($17,077) and Australia ($16,498).
Another way to look at education spending is as a percentage of gross domestic product. By that measure, according to OECD data, the U.S. again is nearly tops for postsecondary education. But at the primary and secondary school levels, U.S. per pupil spending in 2021 was below that of more than a dozen countries, including Israel, Iceland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Costa Rica.
“The U.S. spends a lot on education if you include all the money spent on higher education,” Andrew Crook, press secretary for the American Federation of Teachers, told us via email. “If you only consider K-12 education, U.S. expenditures are very close to the OECD average.”
OECD data indicate that while the U.S. prioritizes higher education, “other countries invest more comprehensively across all levels of education,” Crook said.
Crook also warned that international spending comparisons “aren’t always straightforward.”
“Many services that American schools provide are not part of other countries’ educational expenditures,” Crook said. “For instance, many countries provide universal healthcare, which is funded separately from their education budgets, whereas in the U.S., healthcare costs for students and staff may be partially covered within school funding. Additionally, expenditures on services like student transportation, social programs, and other support systems vary widely across countries, further complicating a one-to-one comparison of education spending.”
Regardless, U.S. spending per pupil is not — as Trump repeatedly claims — higher than all other nations, nor does the U.S. rank last in educational outcomes.
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