Letter

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment

  • Nature 533, 539–542 (26 May 2016)
  • doi:10.1038/nature17671
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Abstract

Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals1. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample1,2 of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication study in an independent sample of 111,349 individuals from the UK Biobank. We identify 74 genome-wide significant loci associated with the number of years of schooling completed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with educational attainment are disproportionately found in genomic regions regulating gene expression in the fetal brain. Candidate genes are preferentially expressed in neural tissue, especially during the prenatal period, and enriched for biological pathways involved in neural development. Our findings demonstrate that, even for a behavioural phenotype that is mostly environmentally determined, a well-powered GWAS identifies replicable associated genetic variants that suggest biologically relevant pathways. Because educational attainment is measured in large numbers of individuals, it will continue to be useful as a proxy phenotype in efforts to characterize the genetic influences of related phenotypes, including cognition and neuropsychiatric diseases.

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Acknowledgements

This research was carried out under the auspices of the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (SSGAC). This research has also been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource. This study was supported by funding from the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation (E9/11), the Swedish Research Council (421-2013-1061), The Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation, an ERC Consolidator Grant (647648 EdGe), the Pershing Square Fund of the Foundations of Human Behavior, and the NIA/NIH through grants P01-AG005842, P01-AG005842-20S2, P30-AG012810, and T32-AG000186-23 to NBER, and R01-AG042568 to USC. We thank S. Cunningham, N. Galla and J. Rashtian for research assistance. A full list of acknowledgments is provided in the Supplementary Information.

Author information

    • Aysu Okbay
    • , Jonathan P. Beauchamp
    • , Mark Alan Fontana
    • , James J. Lee
    • , Tune H. Pers
    • , Cornelius A. Rietveld
    •  & Patrick Turley

    These authors contributed equally to this work.

    • Peter M. Visscher
    • , Tõnu Esko
    • , Philipp D. Koellinger
    • , David Cesarini
    •  & Daniel J. Benjamin

    These authors jointly supervised this work.

    • LifeLines Cohort Study

    A list of participants and affiliations appears in the Supplementary Information.

Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Economics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, 3062 PA, The Netherlands

    • Aysu Okbay
    • , Cornelius A. Rietveld
    • , Ronald de Vlaming
    •  & A. Roy Thurik

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3015 GE, The Netherlands

    • Aysu Okbay
    • , Cornelius A. Rietveld
    • , Ronald de Vlaming
    • , Sven J. van der Lee
    • , Najaf Amin
    • , Frank J. A. van Rooij
    • , Cornelia M. van Duijn
    • , Henning Tiemeier
    • , André G. Uitterlinden
    •  & Albert Hofman

  3. Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology, Rotterdam, 3062 PA, The Netherlands

    • Aysu Okbay
    • , Cornelius A. Rietveld
    • , S. Fleur W. Meddens
    • , Ronald de Vlaming
    • , A. Roy Thurik
    •  & Philipp D. Koellinger

  4. Department of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    • Jonathan P. Beauchamp
    • , Patrick Turley
    • , Olga Rostapshova
    •  & David I. Laibson

  5. Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-3332, USA

    • Mark Alan Fontana
    •  & Daniel J. Benjamin

  6. Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

    • James J. Lee
    • , Michael B. Miller
    • , William G. Iacono
    • , Matt McGue
    •  & Robert F. Krueger

  7. Division of Endocrinology and Center for Basic and Translational Obesity Research, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 2116, USA

    • Tune H. Pers
    •  & Tõnu Esko

  8. Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA

    • Tune H. Pers
    • , Pascal Timshel
    • , Harm-Jan Westra
    • , Philip L. de Jager
    • , Aarno Palotie
    •  & Tõnu Esko

  9. The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark

    • Tune H. Pers
    • , Tarunveer S. Ahluwalia
    •  & Thorkild I. A. Sørensen

  10. Statens Serum Institut, Department of Epidemiology Research, Copenhagen 2300, Denmark

    • Tune H. Pers

  11. Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia

    • Guo-Bo Chen
    • , Zhihong Zhu
    • , Andrew Bakshi
    • , Riccardo E. Marioni
    • , Anna A. E. Vinkhuyzen
    • , Jacob Gratten
    • , Jian Yang
    •  & Peter M. Visscher

  12. Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur 201, Iceland

    • Valur Emilsson
    •  & Vilmundur Gudnason

  13. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík 107, Iceland

    • Valur Emilsson

  14. Department of Complex Trait Genetics, VU University, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands

    • S. Fleur W. Meddens
    • , Christiaan deLeeuw
    • , Danielle Posthuma
    •  & Philipp D. Koellinger

  15. Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1018 TV, The Netherlands

    • S. Fleur W. Meddens
    • , Maël P. Lebreton
    •  & Philipp D. Koellinger

  16. Department of Government, Uppsala University, Uppsala 751 20, Sweden

    • Sven Oskarsson
    •  & Karl-Oskar Lindgren

  17. New York Genome Center, New York, New York 10013, USA

    • Joseph K. Pickrell

  18. Department of Economics, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA

    • Kevin Thom
    •  & David Cesarini

  19. Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark Lyngby 2800, Denmark

    • Pascal Timshel

  20. Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1081 BT, The Netherlands

    • Abdel Abdellaoui
    • , Jouke-Jan Hottenga
    • , Gonneke Willemsen
    •  & Dorret I. Boomsma

  21. COPSAC, Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2820, Denmark

    • Tarunveer S. Ahluwalia
    • , Klaus Bønnelykke
    • , Johannes Waage
    •  & Hans Bisgaard

  22. Steno Diabetes Center, Gentofte 2820, Denmark

    • Tarunveer S. Ahluwalia
    •  & Johannes Waage

  23. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg 416 85, Sweden

    • Jonas Bacelis
    •  & Bo Jacobsson

  24. Research Unit of Molecular Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg 85764, Germany

    • Clemens Baumbach
    •  & Christian Gieger

  25. Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg 85764, Germany

    • Clemens Baumbach
    •  & Christa Meisinger

  26. deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland

    • Gyda Bjornsdottir
    • , Augustine Kong
    • , Gudmar Thorleifsson
    • , Bjarni Gunnarsson
    • , Bjarni V. Halldórsson
    • , Kari Stefansson
    •  & Unnur Thorsteinsdottir

  27. Department of Cell Biology, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 CN, The Netherlands

    • Johannes H. Brandsma
    •  & Raymond A. Poot

  28. Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica U.O.S. di Sassari, National Research Council of Italy, Sassari 07100, Italy

    • Maria Pina Concas
    • , Simona Vaccargiu
    •  & Mario Pirastu

  29. Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA

    • Jaime Derringer

  30. 23andMe, Inc., Mountain View, California 94041, USA

    • Nicholas A. Furlotte
    • , David A. Hinds
    •  & Joyce Y. Tung

  31. Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, 6500 HB, The Netherlands

    • Tessel E. Galesloot
    •  & Lambertus A. L. M. Kiemeney

  32. Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste 34100, Italy

    • Giorgia Girotto
    • , Dragana Vuckovic
    • , Ilaria Gandin
    • , Paolo Gasparini
    •  & Nicola Pirastu

  33. Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland

    • Richa Gupta
    • , Antti Latvala
    • , Anu Loukola
    •  & Jaakko Kaprio

  34. Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK

    • Leanne M. Hall
    • , Christopher P. Nelson
    •  & Nilesh J. Samani

  35. NIHR Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK

    • Leanne M. Hall
    • , Christopher P. Nelson
    •  & Nilesh J. Samani

  36. Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK

    • Sarah E. Harris
    • , Gail Davies
    • , David C. M. Liewald
    • , Riccardo E. Marioni
    •  & Ian J. Deary

  37. Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK

    • Sarah E. Harris
    •  & David J. Porteous

  38. Department of Neurology, General Hospital and Medical University Graz, Graz 8036, Austria

    • Edith Hofer
    • , Katja E. Petrovic
    • , Helena Schmidt
    •  & Reinhold Schmidt

  39. Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation, General Hospital and Medical University Graz, Graz 8036, Austria

    • Edith Hofer

  40. Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LE, UK

    • Momoko Horikoshi

  41. Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK

    • Momoko Horikoshi

  42. MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK

    • Jennifer E. Huffman
    • , Jonathan Marten
    • , Caroline Hayward
    • , Veronique Vitart
    • , James F. Wilson
    •  & Alan F. Wright

  43. Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland

    • Kadri Kaasik
    • , Jari Lahti
    • , Liisa Keltigangas-Järvinen
    •  & Katri Räikkönen

  44. Nutrition and Dietetics, Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, Athens 17671, Greece

    • Ioanna P. Kalafati
    •  & George V. Dedoussis

  45. Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden

    • Robert Karlsson
    • , Paul Lichtenstein
    • , Nancy L. Pedersen
    •  & Patrik K. E. Magnusson

  46. Folkhälsan Research Centre, 00014 Helsingfors, Finland

    • Jari Lahti
    • , Katri Räikkönen
    •  & Johan G. Eriksson

  47. Institute for Computing and Information Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, 6525 EC, The Netherlands

    • Christiaan deLeeuw

  48. Quantitative Genetics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4029, Australia

    • Penelope A. Lind
    •  & Sarah E. Medland

  49. Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin 14195, Germany

    • Tian Liu

  50. Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UK

    • Massimo Mangino
    • , Lydia Quaye
    • , Cristina Venturini
    •  & Tim D. Spector

  51. NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Foundation Trust, London SE1 7EH, UK

    • Massimo Mangino
    •  & Cristina Venturini

  52. Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, Tartu 51010, Estonia

    • Evelin Mihailov
    • , Natalia Pervjakova
    • , Reedik Mägi
    • , Lili Milani
    • , Andres Metspalu
    • , Markus Perola
    •  & Tõnu Esko

  53. Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, 9700 RB, The Netherlands

    • Peter J. van der Most
    • , Behrooz Z. Alizadeh
    •  & Judith M. Vonk

  54. Public Health Stream, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton, NSW 2305, Australia

    • Christopher Oldmeadow
    • , Elizabeth G. Holliday
    •  & John R. Attia

  55. Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2300, Australia

    • Christopher Oldmeadow
    • , Elizabeth G. Holliday
    • , Rodney J. Scott
    •  & John R. Attia

  56. Centre for Integrated Genomic Medical Research, Institute of Population Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK

    • Antony Payton
    •  & William E. R. Ollier

  57. Human Communication and Deafness, School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

    • Antony Payton

  58. Department of Health, THL-National Institute for Health and Welfare, 00271 Helsinki, Finland

    • Natalia Pervjakova
    • , Niina Eklund
    • , Seppo Koskinen
    • , Tomi Mäki-Opas
    • , Veikko Salomaa
    • , Jaakko Kaprio
    •  & Markus Perola

  59. Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center & GGZ inGeest, Amsterdam, 1081 HL, The Netherlands

    • Wouter J. Peyrot
    • , Yusplitri Milaneschi
    •  & Brenda W. J. H. Penninx

  60. Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA

    • Yong Qian
    • , Jun Ding
    •  & David Schlessinger

  61. Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, 20521 Turku, Finland

    • Olli Raitakari

  62. Department of Medical Genetics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1005, Switzerland

    • Rico Rueedi
    •  & Zoltan Kutalik

  63. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland

    • Rico Rueedi
    •  & Zoltan Kutalik

  64. Department Of Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milano 20142, Italy

    • Erika Salvi
    •  & Daniele Cusi

  65. Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University Hospital of Essen, Essen 45147, Germany

    • Börge Schmidt
    • , Lewin Eisele
    •  & Karl-Heinz Jöckel

  66. Centre for Global Health Research, The Usher Institute for Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK

    • Katharina E. Schraut
    • , Harry Campbell
    • , Peter K. Joshi
    • , Igor Rudan
    • , Ozren Polasek
    •  & James F. Wilson

  67. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9780, USA

    • Jianxin Shi

  68. Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur 201, Iceland

    • Albert V. Smith

  69. Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik 101, Iceland

    • Albert V. Smith
    • , Vilmundur Gudnason
    • , Kari Stefansson
    •  & Unnur Thorsteinsdottir

  70. MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UK

    • Beate St Pourcain
    • , David M. Evans
    • , George McMahon
    • , Lavinia Paternoster
    • , Susan M. Ring
    • , Thorkild I. A. Sørensen
    • , Nicholas J. Timpson
    •  & George Davey Smith

  71. School of Oral and Dental Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS1 2LY, UK

    • Beate St Pourcain

  72. Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald 17475, Germany

    • Alexander Teumer
    • , Sebastian E. Baumeister
    • , Henry Völzke
    •  & Wolfgang Hoffmann

  73. Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9700 RB, The Netherlands

    • Niek Verweij
    • , Klaus Berger
    •  & Pim van der Harst

  74. Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster 48149, Germany

    • Juergen Wellmann

  75. Divisions of Genetics and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA

    • Harm-Jan Westra

  76. Partners Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA

    • Harm-Jan Westra

  77. Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA

    • Jingyun Yang
    • , Patricia A. Boyle
    •  & David A. Bennett

  78. Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA

    • Jingyun Yang
    •  & David A. Bennett

  79. Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA

    • Wei Zhao
    • , Jennifer A. Smith
    • , Erin B. Ware
    •  & Sharon L. R. Kardia

  80. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, 9713 GZ, The Netherlands

    • Behrooz Z. Alizadeh

  81. Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Regensburg, Regensburg D-93053, Germany

    • Sebastian E. Baumeister

  82. Institute of Molecular Genetics, National Research Council of Italy, Pavia 27100, Italy

    • Ginevra Biino

  83. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA

    • Patricia A. Boyle

  84. Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK

    • Francesco P. Cappuccio

  85. Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK

    • Gail Davies
    • , David C. M. Liewald
    •  & Ian J. Deary

  86. Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 1HP, UK

    • Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

  87. William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, UK

    • Panos Deloukas
    •  & Stavroula Kanoni

  88. Princess Al-Jawhara Al-Brahim Centre of Excellence in Research of Hereditary Disorders (PACER-HD), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

    • Panos Deloukas

  89. The Berlin Aging Study II; Research Group on Geriatrics, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, Berlin 13347, Germany

    • Ilja Demuth
    •  & Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen

  90. Institute of Medical and Human Genetics, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Berlin 13353, Germany

    • Ilja Demuth

  91. German Socio- Economic Panel Study, DIW Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany

    • Peter Eibich
    •  & Martin Kroh

  92. Health Economics Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LF, UK

    • Peter Eibich

  93. The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, The Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia

    • David M. Evans
    • , Jian Yang
    •  & Peter M. Visscher

  94. Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA

    • Jessica D. Faul
    •  & David R. Weir

  95. Department of Genetics, Division of Statistical Genomics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63018, USA

    • Mary F. Feitosa
    • , Aldi T. Kraja
    • , Ingrid B. Borecki
    •  & Michael A. Province

  96. Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, Bonn 53127, Germany

    • Andreas J. Forstner

  97. Department of Genomics, Life and Brain Center, University of Bonn, Bonn 53127, Germany

    • Andreas J. Forstner

  98. Institute of Biomedical and Neural Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik 101, Iceland

    • Bjarni V. Halldórsson

  99. Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9205, USA

    • Tamara B. Harris

  100. Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA

    • Andrew C. Heath
    •  & Pamela A. Madden

  101. Division of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK

    • Lynne J. Hocking

  102. Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald 17475, Germany

    • Georg Homuth
    •  & Uwe Völker

  103. Manchester Medical School, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK

    • Michael A. Horan

  104. Program in Translational NeuroPsychiatric Genomics, Departments of Neurology & Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA

    • Philip L. de Jager

  105. Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA

    • Philip L. de Jager

  106. Department of Genes and Environment, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, N-0403 Oslo, Norway

    • Astanand Jugessur
    • , Ronny Myhre
    •  & Bo Jacobsson

  107. Department of Genomics of Common Disease, Imperial College London, London, W12 0NN, UK

    • Marika A. Kaakinen

  108. Department of Clinical Physiology, Tampere University Hospital, 33521 Tampere, Finland

    • Mika Kähönen

  109. Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Tampere, School of Medicine, 33014 Tampere, Finland

    • Mika Kähönen

  110. Public Health, Medical School, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia

    • Ivana Kolcic

  111. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne 1010, Switzerland

    • Zoltan Kutalik

  112. Neuroepidemiology Section, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9205, USA

    • Lenore J. Launer

  113. Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1018 XA, The Netherlands

    • Maël P. Lebreton

  114. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5797, USA

    • Douglas F. Levinson

  115. Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg 85764, Germany

    • Peter Lichtner
    •  & Thomas Meitinger

  116. Medical Genetics Section, Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK

    • Riccardo E. Marioni

  117. Department of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne 1011, Switzerland

    • Pedro Marques-Vidal
    •  & Peter Vollenweider

  118. Tema BV, Hoofddorp, 2131 HE, The Netherlands

    • Gerardus A. Meddens

  119. Molecular Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4029, Australia

    • Grant W. Montgomery
    •  & Dale R. Nyholt

  120. Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland Institute of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4059, Australia

    • Dale R. Nyholt

  121. Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA

    • Aarno Palotie

  122. The Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA

    • Aarno Palotie

  123. Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA

    • Aarno Palotie

  124. Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland

    • Aarno Palotie
    • , Antti-Pekka Sarin
    •  & Jaakko Kaprio

  125. Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA

    • Aarno Palotie

  126. Medical Genetics, Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, Trieste 34100, Italy

    • Antonietta Robino
    • , Sheila Ulivi
    •  & Paolo Gasparini

  127. Social Impact, Arlington, Virginia 22201, USA

    • Olga Rostapshova
    •  & Diego Vozzi

  128. Department of Economics, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

    • Aldo Rustichini

  129. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois 60201-3137, USA

    • Alan R. Sanders
    •  & Pablo V. Gejman

  130. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA

    • Alan R. Sanders
    •  & Pablo V. Gejman

  131. Public Health Genomics Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, 00300 Helsinki, Finland

    • Antti-Pekka Sarin

  132. Research Unit for Genetic Epidemiology, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Center of Molecular Medicine, General Hospital and Medical University, Graz, Graz 8010, Austria

    • Helena Schmidt

  133. Information Based Medicine Stream, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton, NSW 2305, Australia

    • Rodney J. Scott

  134. Medical Research Institute, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK

    • Blair H. Smith

  135. Research Unit Hypertension and Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Department of Cardiovascular Science, University of Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium

    • Jan A. Staessen

  136. R&D VitaK Group, Maastricht University, Maastricht, 6229 EV, The Netherlands

    • Jan A. Staessen

  137. Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg 85764, Germany

    • Konstantin Strauch

  138. Institute of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Chair of Genetic Epidemiology, Ludwig Maximilians-Universität, Munich 81377, Germany

    • Konstantin Strauch

  139. Department of Geriatrics, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA

    • Antonio Terracciano

  140. Department of Health Sciences and Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK

    • Martin D. Tobin

  141. Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3015 GE, The Netherlands

    • Frank J. A. van Rooij

  142. Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104, USA

    • Erin B. Ware

  143. Platform for Genome Analytics, Institutes of Neurogenetics & Integrative and Experimental Genomics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck 23562, Germany

    • Lars Bertram

  144. Neuroepidemiology and Ageing Research Unit, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2AZ, UK

    • Lars Bertram

  145. Department of Health Sciences, Community & Occupational Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, 9713 AV, The Netherlands

    • Ute Bültmann

  146. Department of Psychology, Union College, Schenectady, New York 12308, USA

    • Christopher F. Chabris

  147. Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, c/o Cittadella Universitaria di Monserrato, Monserrato, Cagliari 9042, Italy

    • Francesco Cucca

  148. Institute of Biomedical Technologies, Italian National Research Council, Segrate (Milano) 20090, Italy

    • Daniele Cusi

  149. Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland

    • Johan G. Eriksson

  150. Departments of Human Genetics and Psychiatry, Donders Centre for Neuroscience, Nijmegen, 6500 HB, The Netherlands

    • Barbara Franke

  151. Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9700 RB, The Netherlands

    • Lude Franke
    •  & Pim van der Harst

  152. Sidra, Experimental Genetics Division, Sidra, Doha 26999, Qatar

    • Paolo Gasparini

  153. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald 17475, Germany

    • Hans-Jörgen Grabe

  154. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, HELIOS-Hospital Stralsund, Stralsund 18437, Germany

    • Hans-Jörgen Grabe

  155. Econometric Institute, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, 3062 PA, The Netherlands

    • Patrick J. F. Groenen

  156. Durrer Center for Cardiogenetic Research, ICIN-Netherlands Heart Institute, Utrecht, 1105 AZ, The Netherlands

    • Pim van der Harst

  157. Generation Scotland, Centre for Genomics and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK

    • Caroline Hayward

  158. Centre for Population Health Research, School of Health Sciences and Sansom Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia

    • Elina Hyppönen

  159. South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia

    • Elina Hyppönen

  160. Population, Policy and Practice, UCL Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, UK

    • Elina Hyppönen
    •  & Christine Power

  161. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK

    • Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  162. Center for Life Course Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland

    • Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  163. Unit of Primary Care, Oulu University Hospital, 90029 Oulu, Finland

    • Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  164. Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland

    • Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  165. Fimlab Laboratories, 33520 Tampere, Finland

    • Terho Lehtimäki

  166. Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Tampere, School of Medicine, 33014 Tampere, Finland

    • Terho Lehtimäki

  167. Economics, NYU Shanghai, 200122 Pudong, China

    • Steven F. Lehrer

  168. Policy Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada

    • Steven F. Lehrer

  169. Genetic Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4029, Australia

    • Nicholas G. Martin

  170. Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Tartu 51010, Estonia

    • Andres Metspalu

  171. Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute Brain Behaviour and Mental Health, Salford Royal Hospital, Manchester M6 8HD, UK

    • Neil Pendleton

  172. Manchester Institute for Collaborative Research in Ageing, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

    • Neil Pendleton

  173. Faculty of Medicine, University of Split, Split 21000, Croatia

    • Ozren Polasek

  174. Department of Clinical Genetics, VU Medical Centre, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands

    • Danielle Posthuma

  175. Institute of Preventive Medicine. Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospitals, The Capital Region, Frederiksberg 2000, Denmark

    • Thorkild I. A. Sørensen

  176. Montpellier Business School, Montpellier 34080, France

    • A. Roy Thurik

  177. Panteia, Zoetermeer, 2715 CA, The Netherlands

    • A. Roy Thurik

  178. Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3015 GE, The Netherlands

    • Henning Tiemeier

  179. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3015 GE, The Netherlands

    • Henning Tiemeier

  180. Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3015 GE, The Netherlands

    • André G. Uitterlinden

  181. Department of Sociology, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA

    • Dalton C. Conley

  182. School of Medicine, New York University, New York, New York 10016, USA

    • Dalton C. Conley

  183. Bioethics Program, Union Graduate College – Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Schenectady, New York 12308, USA

    • Michelle N. Meyer

  184. Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm 113 83, Sweden

    • Magnus Johannesson

  185. Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

    • Tõnu Esko

  186. Research Institute for Industrial Economics, Stockholm 10215, Sweden

    • David Cesarini

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Contributions

Study design and management: D.J.B., D.Ce., T.E., M.J., P.D.K. and P.M.V. Quality control and meta-analysis: A.O., G.B.C., T.E., M.A.F., C.A.R. and T.H.P. Stratification: P.T., J.P.B., C.A.R. and J.Y. Genetic overlap: J.P.B., M.A.F., P.T. Biological annotation: J.J.L., T.E., T.H.P., J.K.P., J.H.B., J.P.B., L.F., V.E., G.A.M., M.A.F., S.F.W.M., P.Ti., R.A.P., R.d.V. and H.J.W. Prediction and mediation: J.P.B., M.A.F. and J.Y. G×E: D.Co., S.F.L., K.O.L., S.O. and K.T. Replication in UKB: M.A.F. and C.A.R. SSGAC advisory board: D.Co., T.E., A.H., R.F.K., D.I.L., S.E.M., M.N.M., G.D.S. and P.M.V. All authors contributed to and critically reviewed the manuscript. Authors not listed above contributed to the recruitment, genotyping, or data processing for the contributing components of the meta-analysis. For a full list of author contributions, see Supplementary Information section 8.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Peter M. Visscher or Philipp D. Koellinger or David Cesarini or Daniel J. Benjamin.

Results can be downloaded from the SSGAC website (http://ssgac.org/Data.php). Data for our analyses come from many studies and organizations, some of which are subject to a MTA, and are listed in the Supplementary Information.

Extended data

Extended data figures

  1. 1.

    Q–Q plot of the genome-wide association meta-analysis of 64 EduYears results files (n = 293,723).

  2. 2.

    The distribution of effect sizes of the 74 lead SNPs.

  3. 3.

    Assessing the extent to which population stratification affects the estimates from the GWAS.

  4. 4.

    Replication of 74 lead SNPs in the UK Biobank data.

  5. 5.

    Q–Q plots for the 74 lead EduYears SNPs (or LD proxies) in published GWAS of other phenotypes.

  6. 6.

    Regional association plots for four of the ten prioritized SNPs for mental health, brain anatomy, and anthropometric phenotypes identified using EduYears as a proxy phenotype.

  7. 7.

    Application of fgwas to EduYears.

  8. 8.

    Tissue-level biological annotation.

  9. 9.

    Gene-level biological annotation.

  10. 10.

    The predictive power of a polygenic score (PGS) varies in Sweden by birth cohort.

Supplementary information

PDF files

  1. 1.

    Supplementary Information

    This file contains Supplementary Text and Data – see contents page for details.

Excel files

  1. 1.

    Supplementary Data

    This file contains Supplementary Tables.

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