This dissertation investigates the effect of expanded tertiary education on collective civic and political participation. The expectation is that increased participation by educated individuals would result in increased levels of participation overall. However, studies that examined this relationship have presented mixed findings with no definitive support for a positive effect. The dissertation is a quantitative study using cross-national, multi-year survey data from the World Values Survey from 1984 to 2009. This dataset contains eighty-eight countries from all regions of the world with a wide variety of social and political types. I employ multi-level regression analyses to identify the effects of individuals' educational attainment and country-level tertiary education completion, democratic development, and income inequality on a range of participation outcomes. There are two core findings from these chapters. First, the effect of tertiary education on participation on the individual level is greater in societies that are more educated, more democratic, and less equal. Second, on the collective level, expanded tertiary education is positive for civic participation but not for political activism. This research challenges the assumption of a positive effect of societal tertiary education on collective political participation and brings attention to the effects of tertiary educational as a legitimating institution for unequal social conditions, such as participation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]