The expectation that young Americans will always be better educated and more successful than their parents is no longer true.

A new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says the United States is now the only major economy in the world where the younger generation will not surpass the preceding generation in terms of schooling.

Andreas Schleicher, special adviser on education at the OECD, told the BBC News: “It’s something of great significance because much of today’s economic power of the United States rests on a very high degree of adult skills—and that is now at risk.”

Today, only about 20% of young adults will reach a higher level of education than their parents, a rate that’s among the lowest rates in the developed world, according to the OECD. Schleicher says that a major problem in the U.S. is that the skyrocketing cost of going to college has created a barrier for many young Americans who do not come from wealthy families.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Downward Mobility Haunts US Education (by Sean Coughlan, BBC News)

Education at a Glance 2012 (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) (pdf)

College Graduate Unemployment Depends on Your Major (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)