Volume of official development assistance flows for scholarships, by sector and type of study

Definition

SDG Indicator 4.b.1: Gross disbursements of total official development assistance (ODA) for scholarships in donor countries expressed in US dollars at the average annual exchange rate.

Scholarships are financial aid awards for individual students and contributions to trainees. The beneficiary students and trainees are nationals of developing countries. Financial aid awards include bilateral grants to students in institutions of higher education following full-time studies or training courses in the donor country.

Data source

Administrative data from donor countries and other aid providers on gross disbursements of total official development assistance to education.

Source definition

UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Calculation method

The sum of gross disbursements of total official development assistance for scholarships for study abroad by sector and type of study awarded to students from the beneficiary country expressed in US dollars.

Data required

Gross disbursements of total official development assistance for scholarships for study abroad by sector and type of study awarded to students from the beneficiary country.

Interpretation

A high value indicates that there is greater expenditure on students from the given beneficiary country to study abroad. It does not indicate the number of students being supported.

Limitations

The data only address international concessional flows provided by governments. Detailed, internationally-comparable data on scholarships for developing country nationals provided by universities, colleges, foundations, NGOs and other sources are generally lacking.

Purpose

ODA is the accepted measure of international development co-operation. Total ODA flows to developing countries quantify the public effort that donors provide for scholarships. The data cover official international assistance to provide education places for developing country nationals in donor country educational institutions.

Quality standards

The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) compiled data used to produce this indicator based on returns submitted by its member countries and other aid providers. DAC-OECD defines the protocol for reporting these data.

Types of disaggregation

By aid provider, recipient country, type of finance, etc.