Total number of higher education institutions decreases by 2%
The number of postsecondary institutions eligible to participate in federal student financial assistance programs (Title IV institutions) in the United States and other jurisdictions in the 2023-24 academic year showed a decrease of approximately two percent from the previous academic year, according to data released recently from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical center within the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.
The four-year public sector was the only sector to see an increase in institutions. That increase included 16 institutions that were two-year in 2022-23 and became four-year for 2023-24.
The new data also shed light on tuition and fees in 2023-24, as well as unduplicated enrollment head counts. Additionally, new data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), show around 2.5 million high school students were enrolled in college courses for credit during the 2022-23 academic year.
“Previous releases from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) have established that two-year institutions are an educational resource for students who do not fit the profile of a ‘traditional’ undergraduate student,” said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr. “The new data released today improve our understanding of the role of two-year institutions in educating such students, with information about their providing advanced coursework to high school students.”
Below are a few highlights from the data released by NCES’s IPEDS program.
• The number of Title IV institutions in the U.S. and other jurisdictions decreased from 5,918 in 2022-23 to 5,819 in 2023-24.
• Between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, adjusting for inflation, average tuition and fees for full-time, first-time degree or certificate-seeking undergraduates decreased across all sectors.
• Of the roughly 3.6 million students receiving degrees or certificates at four-year Title IV degree-granting institutions in 2023-24, about 54 percent received a bachelor’s degree.
IPEDS is a system of interrelated surveys conducted annually by NCES. IPEDS gathers information from U.S. colleges, universities, and technical and vocational institutions eligible to participate in any of the Title IV federal student financial aid programs.
The provisional fall collection release for 2023-24 includes data from 5,819 Title IV institutions and 70 administrative offices. Institutions that complete IPEDS surveys each year include research universities, state colleges and universities, private religious and liberal arts colleges, for-profit institutions, community and technical colleges, non-degree-granting institutions such as cosmetology schools and others.
Key Findings:
Institutional Characteristics
• During the 2023-24 academic year, the number of Title IV institutions in the United States and other jurisdictions decreased approximately 2 percent from 5,918 in 2022-23 to 5,819. The four-year public sector was the only sector to see an increase in institutions, which included 16 institutions that were two-year in 2022-23 and became four-year for 2023-24. Of this total,
— 2,691 were classified as four-year institutions;
— 1,496 were two-year institutions; and
— 1,632 were less-than-two-year institutions.
Tuition and Fees
• Between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, adjusting for inflation, average tuition and fees for full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates decreased across all sectors.
— Public four-year institutions reported a 7 percent decrease for in-state students (to approximately $9,000) and an 8 percent decrease for out-of-state students to approximately $19,300.
— Private nonprofit four-year institutions reported a decrease of approximately 5 percent to approximately $32,600.
— Private for-profit institutions reported a decrease of approximately 8 percent to approximately $18,700.
Completions
• Of the roughly 3.6 million students receiving degrees or certificates at four-year Title IV degree-granting institutions in 2023-24:
— about 54 percent overall received a bachelor’s degree, though the percentage varied by institutional control
— Approximately 58 percent of the 2.2 million students at public four-year institutions received a bachelor’s degree
— Approximately 49 percent of the 1.1 million students at private nonprofit four-year institutions received a bachelor’s degree
— Approximately 40 percent of the 246,000 students at private for-profit four-year institutions received a bachelor’s degree.
Unduplicated Enrollment
• The 12-month unduplicated head count enrollment of undergraduate students increased between the 12-month periods of July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, and July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. This was the first increase in this head count since 2010–11.
• The 12-month unduplicated head count enrollment of students enrolled exclusively in distance education courses between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023 varied by institutional control. Of the approximately 5.8 million undergraduate students enrolled exclusively in distance education,
— around 4.1 million were enrolled at public institutions;
— around 935,000 were enrolled at private nonprofit institutions; and
— around 755,000 were enrolled at private for-profit institutions.
• About 2.5 million students reported in the unduplicated head count enrollment were high school students enrolled in college courses for credit, with approximately 1.1 million of them enrolled at four-year institutions, around 1.4 million enrolled at two-year institutions, and 11,000 enrolled at less-than-two-year institutions.
— Public two-year institutions enrolled the most high school students for credit.
— Approximately 57 percent of high school students enrolled for credit were women.
— White students made up the majority of high school students enrolled for credit at approximately 52 percent, followed by Hispanic or Latino students at 19.6 percent.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, is the statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze and report complete statistics on the condition and progress of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.
Follow NCES on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube and subscribe to the NCES Newsflash to receive email notifications when new data are released.
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Its mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers and the public.
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