The scatter plot shows the most recent (2017) world higher education enrollment rates for 115 countries. Countries are split into seven regions: Latin America & Caribbean (LCR), Europe & Central Asia (ECA), Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), East Asia Pacific (EAP), South Asia Region (SAR), Middle East & Africa (MNA) and North America Region (NAR).

We observe a positive linear trend for countries with a GDP per capita below $40,000. In those countries, higher tertiary enrollments are highly correlated with higher GDP per capita levels. Beyond the $40,000 GDP per capita level, we see large differences in tertiary enrollment ratios between countries with similar economies. Italy and Spain, for example, with similar economies and cultures have big differences in their enrollment ratios at 62% and 89%, respectively. Similarly, Peru and Saudi Arabia have very similar enrollment ratios but very different GDP per capita levels at $12,500 and $47,300.