The determinants of educational attainment are considered within Becker’s analysis of the supply and demand for human capital at the individual level. The following sources of variation are considered: type of settlement, assortative mating, household demography, reasons for school drop out and the intergenerational transmission of educational attainment. Particular attention is paid to the determinants of higher educational achievement. The analyses suggest considerable intergenerational mobility in educational achievement and little by way of gender inequality. However, settlement type, school attended and liquidity constraints undermine equality of educational opportunity.