Oecd covid survey eag indd

particularly the most disadvantaged, has also become 
key to sustaining effective tertiary education (World 
Bank, 2020
[20]
). While only five countries (Hungary, 
Italy, Korea, Poland and the United States) adapted 
tuition fee policies in response to the COVID-19 
pandemic, the majority of them made adjustments in 
support of international students (OECD, 2021
[21]
). 
While the crisis has affected all tertiary students, it 
has had a severe impact on international and foreign 
students. In particular, the crisis has affected the safety 
and legal status of international students in their host 
country, the continuity of learning and the delivery of 
course material, and students’ perception of the value 
of their degree, all of which could potentially have dire 
consequences for international student mobility in the 
coming years. A decrease in the share of international 
students can lead to a drop in revenues, affecting 
in particular higher education sectors with greater 
dependence on international fees. For example, 
in Australia, international students represent 21% of 
tertiary enrolment and those enrolled in a bachelor 
programme pay almost four times as much as national 
students (OECD, 2021
[21]
). While digital technologies 
have improved capacities for virtual learning, students 
may question the value of paying high fees to earn a 
degree abroad in uncertain times, particularly if that 
learning is to occur mostly on line and they are no 
longer able to benefit from networking and access to 
a foreign labour market.
A number of countries and economies, however, 
introduced measures to facilitate the repayment of 
public student loans. In 2020, Germany provided 
interest-rate support on student loans; Korea extended 
the repayment period of student loans; and Chile, 
England (United Kingdom), Finland, the Netherlands, 
Norway and Sweden increased tertiary students’ 
loan capacity or provided them with the possibility to 
borrow additional funds. Additional funding for public 
scholarships was extended by a large majority of 
countries and economies with data available, including 
Chile, Belgium (the Flemish Community), Finland, 
France, Israel, Japan, Korea, Latvia, the Netherlands 
and Norway. In Norway, a portion of student 

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32
© OECD 2021
The State of Global Education: 18 Months into the Pandemic
loans could be converted into a grant under certain 
conditions with flexible criteria for students employed in 
sectors at the frontlines during the pandemic. In Chile, 
Italy and Japan, students were also supported with 
additional tuition fee waivers (OECD, 2021
[21]
). 
Despite new policies to facilitate the payment of tuition 
or the repayment of public student loans, tertiary 
students still face challenges in meeting the financial 
commitments relating to their studies. For instance, 
between 19 August and 31 August 2020, some 31% 
of adults above 18 years of age with household 
members that had planned to enrol for classes in a 
postsecondary education institution in the fall 2020 
in the United States reported that the plans had been 
cancelled for at least one household member. The 
second most frequently cited reason for cancelling 
after health concerns relating to COVID-19 was not 
being able to pay for educational expenses following 
changes in their income level due to the COVID-19 
crisis (US Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, 
2021
[22]
).

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© OECD 2021 
33
6
Consequences of COVID-19 on labour 
market opportunities and the transition from 
education to work
Unemployment rates increased between 2019 and 2020 
In early 2020, COVID-19 infection and lockdown 
measures interrupted international supply chains, 
leading to a severe “supply shock” which affected 
many countries. At the same time, confinement 
measures as well as the economic and job crisis 
stemming from the pandemic led to a “demand shock”, 
with lower demand for products and services. The 
massive economic shock not only affected countries 
where governments responded with restrictive 
measures (e.g. lockdown), but also those relying more 
on social conformity and/or social capital rather than 
on enforced confinement (OECD, 2020
[23]
). 
In some of the most affected countries, unemployment 
rates skyrocketed within the first few weeks of the 
pandemic. For instance, in the United States, the 
unemployment rate jumped from 3.5% in February 
2020 to 14.7% in April 2020, in Canada from 5.7% 
to 13.1%, and in Colombia from 12.3% to 21.0% over 
the same period. In many countries, unemployment 
rates reversed after the peak, but remained at a slightly 
higher level than they were at the beginning of the year 
(OECD, 2020
[23]
).
The impact of COVID-19 on the labour market has been more evenly 
distributed across adults of different educational attainment than 
during the global financial crisis
Educational attainment
On average across OECD countries, the 
unemployment rate among 25-34 year-olds with 
below upper secondary attainment was 15.2% in 
2020, showing an increase of about 2 percentage 
points in one year’s time. However, unlike the 2008 
crisis, there is no clear pattern of which education 

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34
© OECD 2021
The State of Global Education: 18 Months into the Pandemic
levels were the most affected by the crisis in 2020 
compared to 2019. In general, those with upper 
secondary or higher levels of educational attainment 
were affected in often-equal proportions by the 
increase in unemployment rates between 2019 and 
2020. However, in a few countries, such as Austria, 
Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden, the unemployment rate 
for 25-34 year-old adults who have not attained 
upper secondary education increased by at least
5 percentage points between 2019 and 2020, while 
it remained generally stable over this period for other 
levels of education (the increase is less than
3 percentage points). France, Greece and the Slovak 
Republic show the opposite pattern: in these countries, 
the unemployment rate among 25-34 year-olds with 
below upper secondary attainment fell by at least
4 percentage points between 2019 and 2020
(Figure 11). However, these figures should be 
interpreted with caution, as these three countries have 
seen the inactivity rate of those who have not attained 
upper secondary education increase over the same 
period (OECD, 2021
[21]
). 
The availability of job retention schemes in many 
countries limited the impact of the economic crisis on 
unemployment rates in 2020. Job retention schemes, 
such as the “Kurzarbeit” in Germany, the “Activité