Congressional Member’s Report Card
Congressional Member’s Report Card
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EDUCATION – BENCHMARKS
Higher education provides the advanced knowledge and expertise necessary to excel in discovery and application and is paramount to the creation, recruitment, retention, and training of a diverse and highly-skilled STEM workforce.
Students in the U.S. fall behind those in China, Europe, and Canada in math and science. A global comparison of Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores shows the average score for the U.S. was lower than that of many other countries for both math and science. While the average science literacy score of 496 was somewhat better than the average score of 470 for the PISA Math assessment, the overall U.S. scores were well below those of top performers like Singapore, Japan, and China.
The U.S. trails the European Union in doctoral degrees awarded in science and engineering and faces intense competition from China. China now awards nearly as many S&E doctorates as the U.S. China increased their doctoral degree output in science and engineering by over 53 percent.
