Dear Commons Community,

On average, kids in Australia can expect to spend up to 15 more years in school than kids in Niger.

A new report from Cornell University, international business school INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization looks, in part, at global “school life expectancy,” that is to say, how many years students around the world can expect to spend in school. Titled “The Global Innovation Index 2014,” the report shows wide variations in school life expectancy around the world.

While kids in places like Australia and New Zealand can expect to spend nearly 20 years in school, from the primary school level until the tertiary, or post-high school level; kids in places like Pakistan and Ethiopia can expect to spend less than 10 years in school.

Above is a map of the report’s results. The United States ranked thirteenth at almost 17 years of schooling.  In terms of overall global innovation, the United States ranked sixth.

Tony