Universal education was established as a human right over 60 years ago and is one of the most leveraged development investments. Education, especially for girls, yields dramatic returns in terms of promoting global health, reducing malnutrition, and raising incomes and productivity. Yet millions of children and youth still do not have the opportunity to go to school, and for those in school, many will not complete their education equipped with the knowledge of how to read and write. Despite modest progress toward the UN Millennium Development Goal of universal basic education, 75 million primary-school age children remain out of school—almost half of these young people live in conflict-affected countries. Another 225 million young people currently do not go to secondary school. Improving educational quality remains a major challenge and innovative strategies are needed to improve student learning outcomes and ensure that children gain the skills they need.

The Center for Universal Education at Brookings develops and disseminates effective solutions to the challenges of achieving universal quality education. It offers a forum for research, high-level dialogue, and public debate on a range of issues relevant to education in the developing world. It actively works on improving global education architecture, quality of education assistance, education in conflict-affected and fragile states, and strategies for better learning outcomes. The center also highlights links between education and related debates on foreign assistance reform, global governance, aid effectiveness, and humanitarian assistance and sustainable security in order to realize the global compact on education. The Center for Universal Education was founded by Gene Sperling and formerly based at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Center for Universal Education Staff

Anda Adams, Associate Director
Savannah ThomasArrigo, Research Associate and Coordinator