Although education is compulsory from ages 6 to 16, probably fewer than half of all children aged 6–18 are in school. As of 1999, 83% of primary-school-age children were enrolled in school, while only 20% of those eligible attended secondary school. In the same year, the pupil-teacher ratio at the primary level was 36 to 1. Projected adult illiteracy rates for the year 2000 stand at 46.6% (males, 30.1%; females, 63.2%). The largest secondary school is the Booker Washington Institute, a vocational school located at Kakata, with about 1,500 students.
There are three institutions of higher learning: the government operated University of Liberia in Monrovia (established in 1862); Cuttington University College at Monrovia, an Episcopalian institution; and a three-year engineering school, the William V. S. Tubman College of Technology, founded at Monrovia in 1978.
On average, 11% of the government's total annual budget is allocated to education.