University graduates provide the foundation for IT and high value added BPO and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO).  Data is not readily available for all key outsourcing countries, but summarized below are percentages of the total population with university education for a number of countries. The United States, Canada and Ukraine are clear leaders with over a third of the population with a tertiary education. Percentages drop drastically as one moves to other European nations and Latin America.

Data on the university educated population is sourced from the OECD 2009 Global Education Digest. The population is formally defined as those with tertiary/ ISCED 5-6 education