Here we see the top 10 countries (with a population of more than 10 million) that have experienced the largest growth in tertiary enrollment since 1971, all of which are high income countries.
None of these countries exceeded 20% enrollment in 1971, with Australia being the highest at 17% and Saudi Arabia the lowest at 1.6%. While most experienced a linear growth during this period, three countries experience an exponential growth.
Australia, through a combination of university consolidations, fee deferrals and international student recruitment (later known as the Dawkins Revolution - named after the minister of education at the time) sees its enrollment numbers start to significantly rise in the 1990s.
Greece, due to persistent high unemployment rates and no tuition at its universities, has become the country with the highest tertiary gross enrollment rates in the world (with older age groups returning to school). The enrollment ratio went from 46.4% in 1999 (unemployment at 11.25%) to a 137% enrollment ratio in 2017 (unemployment at 23.54%).
Finally, Saudi Arabia goes from only 21 tertiary institutes in 2002 to 55 tertiary institutes in 2017, with most opened in the mid-2000s as the result of an oil boom. This expansion results in more available seats meeting the increasing demands of a quickly developing society.