higher education

American  

noun

1. education beyond high school, specifically that provided by colleges and graduate schools, and professional schools.

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higher education British  

noun

1. education and training at colleges, universities, polytechnics, etc

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Etymology

Origin of higher education

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Through youth programmes, they encourage participants to become active members of their communities and access opportunities such as higher education.

From Barron's • Jul. 5, 2026

Schools sharpen students’ thinking and research skills, he noted, but higher education hasn’t been as good at honing students’ applied skills — and for AI, that includes knowing when to responsibly use the technology.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026

Experts say these trends are a worrying sign for countries such as the UK and the US, which have spent decades building globally competitive higher education sectors.

From BBC • Jun. 21, 2026

Just as other companies can learn from the ones that go bankrupt, other institutions of higher education can learn something from Auburn: Fix what’s broken, or someone else might fix it for you.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 21, 2026

What had been lost in the postwar expansion of higher education was the sense that higher education implied privilege.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

Related Words

• university