Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including universities as well as trade schools and colleges. Higher education is taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, while vocational education beyond secondary education is known as further education in the United Kingdom, or included under the category of continuing education in the United States.
Students attend a linear algebra lecture at a tertiary institution: Helsinki University of Technology
Deakin University, one of Australia's 43 universities
The University of Pennsylvania, an American research university
University of Bologna, established in AD 1088, is the world's oldest university in continuous operation.
Education is the transmission of knowledge, skills, and character traits and manifests in various forms. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also follows a structured approach but occurs outside the formal schooling system, while informal education entails unstructured learning through daily experiences. Formal and non-formal education are categorized into levels, including early childhood education, primary education, secondary education, and tertiary education. Other classifications focus on teaching methods, such as teacher-centered and student-centered education, and on subjects, such as science education, language education, and physical education. Additionally, the term "education" can denote the mental states and qualities of educated individuals and the academic field studying educational phenomena.
Children in a Japanese kindergarten
Primary school classroom in Ethiopia
A high school senior (twelfth grade) classroom in the United States
Students in a laboratory at Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University, Russia
