A small group of colleges awarded a significant share of the degrees conferred in the United States. In no sector is that more striking than among for-profits, where the 15 institutions that awarded the most degrees accounted for more than half of all degrees and more than two-thirds of master’s degrees granted by that sector.
Public institutions
1. | U. of Central Florida | 15,755 | 471 | 12,629 | 2,232 | 286 | 137 | — |
2. | Ohio State U. | 14,817 | 3 | 10,414 | 2,707 | 832 | 861 | — |
3. | Texas A&M U. at College Station | 14,362 | — | 10,164 | 2,710 | 758 | 730 | — |
4. | U. of Florida | 14,330 | 393 | 8,393 | 3,630 | 753 | 1,137 | 24 |
5. | U. of Texas at Austin | 14,070 | — | 9,503 | 3,188 | 899 | 480 | — |
6. | Pennsylvania State U. at University Park | 13,013 | 20 | 10,876 | 1,342 | 673 | 102 | — |
7. | Arizona State U. | 13,000 | — | 9,053 | 3,196 | 528 | 223 | — |
8. | U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor | 12,993 | — | 7,091 | 4,296 | 876 | 730 | — |
9. | U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities | 12,622 | — | 7,553 | 3,308 | 725 | 1,036 | — |
10. | U. of Washington | 12,492 | — | 7,491 | 3,606 | 687 | 554 | 154 |
11. | U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 12,444 | — | 8,024 | 3,286 | 829 | 305 | — |
12. | U. of California at Los Angeles | 12,353 | — | 7,977 | 2,992 | 774 | 610 | — |
13. | Florida International U. | 12,225 | 72 | 8,494 | 3,187 | 189 | 283 | — |
14. | Rutgers U. at New Brunswick | 11,707 | 105 | 7,569 | 2,780 | 597 | 656 | — |
15. | U. of South Florida | 11,688 | 202 | 7,992 | 2,893 | 321 | 280 | — |
| Total for 707 institutions in sector | 1,795,076 | 147,451 | 1,206,254 | 351,119 | 43,398 | 46,481 | 373 |
| Percentage of all degrees in sector from top 15 (representing 2.1% of that sector’s institutions) | 11.0% | 0.9% | 11.0% | 12.9% | 22.4% | 17.5% | 47.7% |
Private nonprofit institutions
1. | Liberty U. | 17,018 | 1,347 | 7,482 | 7,935 | 194 | 60 | — |
2. | New York U. | 15,579 | 54 | 5,552 | 8,489 | 438 | 1,017 | 29 |
3. | U. of Southern California | 14,415 | — | 5,167 | 7,710 | 685 | 837 | 16 |
4. | Western Governors U. | 12,968 | — | 8,207 | 4,761 | — | — | — |
5. | Columbia U. | 11,013 | — | 2,204 | 7,522 | 564 | 723 | — |
6. | Boston U. | 9,617 | — | 4,195 | 4,306 | 484 | 632 | — |
7. | Brigham Young U. | 7,773 | — | 6,512 | 1,034 | 97 | 130 | — |
8. | U. of Pennsylvania | 7,754 | 1 | 2,807 | 3,702 | 562 | 682 | — |
9. | George Washington U. | 7,698 | 205 | 2,311 | 4,223 | 222 | 737 | — |
10. | Harvard U. | 7,532 | 12 | 1,757 | 4,229 | 745 | 789 | — |
11. | Johns Hopkins U. | 7,199 | — | 1,714 | 4,818 | 535 | 132 | — |
12. | Southern New Hampshire U. | 7,094 | 561 | 3,460 | 3,070 | 3 | — | — |
13. | Northwestern U. | 7,061 | — | 2,275 | 3,803 | 438 | 545 | — |
14. | Cornell U. | 6,867 | — | 3,674 | 2,428 | 487 | 278 | — |
15. | Nova Southeastern U. | 6,735 | 2 | 1,412 | 3,519 | 627 | 1,175 | — |
| Total for 1,606 institutions in sector | 1,017,633 | 47,909 | 553,458 | 336,174 | 20,611 | 58,242 | 1,239 |
| Percentage of all degrees in sector from top 15 (representing 0.9% of that sector’s institutions) | 14.4% | 4.6% | 10.6% | 21.3% | 29.5% | 13.3% | 3.6% |
For-profit institutions
1. | U. of Phoenix-Arizona | 45,412 | 14,825 | 19,932 | 10,229 | 426 | — | — |
2. | Grand Canyon U. | 15,662 | — | 9,000 | 6,588 | 74 | — | — |
3. | Ashford U. | 15,626 | 1,091 | 10,987 | 3,548 | — | — | — |
4. | Kaplan U. at Davenport (Iowa) | 11,045 | 3,362 | 4,285 | 3,267 | — | 131 | — |
5. | Walden U. | 10,835 | — | 1,634 | 8,237 | 964 | — | — |
6. | American Public U. system | 10,700 | 2,051 | 5,258 | 3,391 | — | — | — |
7. | Columbia Southern U. | 7,238 | 2,064 | 3,242 | 1,923 | 9 | — | — |
8. | U. of Phoenix-California | 6,589 | 2 | 5,265 | 1,322 | — | — | — |
9. | Capella U. | 6,198 | — | 1,280 | 3,759 | 1,143 | 16 | — |
10. | Chamberlain College of Nursing at Addison (Ill.) | 5,946 | — | 5,164 | 703 | — | 79 | — |
11. | DeVry U. of Illinois | 5,410 | 889 | 2,439 | 2,082 | — | — | — |
12. | Colorado Technical U. Online | 5,016 | 1,595 | 1,980 | 1,434 | — | — | 7 |
13. | Full Sail U. | 4,775 | 137 | 3,652 | 986 | — | — | — |
14. | American InterContinental U. Online | 3,034 | 667 | 1,607 | 760 | — | — | — |
15. | ECPI U. | 3,009 | 1,905 | 1,072 | 32 | — | — | — |
| Total for 685 institutions in sector | 295,346 | 85,038 | 130,761 | 71,344 | 4,692 | 3,331 | 180 |
| Percentage of all degrees in sector from top 15 (representing 2.2% of that sector’s institutions) | 53.0% | 33.6% | 58.7% | 67.6% | 55.8% | 6.8% | 3.9% |
Note: Only degree-granting institutions in the United States that participated in Title IV federal financial-aid programs are represented in the table, and only first majors are counted for the number of degrees. “Doctoral degrees, professional practice” include degrees in law (J.D.) and in medicine (M.D., D.O., and D.D.S., among others).
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data</p>