Enrollment by Carnegie Classification, Fall 2016

Doctoral universities and associate colleges each enroll almost a third of all students, even though doctoral universities represent only 8 percent of all institutions, while associate colleges represent just over a quarter. Baccalaureate colleges represent 13 percent of all institutions but less than 5 percent of overall enrollment.

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Number of institutions by classification

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Enrollment by classification

Note: Institutions are categorized by the 2015 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, a project of Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research. Doctoral universities awarded at least 20 research/scholarship doctorates in 2013-14; professional degrees like M.D. and J.D. are excluded. Master’s institutions awarded at least 50 master’s degrees but fewer than 20 doctoral degrees in 2013-14. Larger programs awarded at least 200 degrees; medium, 100-199; small, 50-99. Institutions that granted fewer than 50 master’s degrees were also included in “smaller” if they offered exclusively or mostly professional/graduate degrees. Baccalaureate/associate colleges include colleges that offered at least one bachelor’s-degree program but conferred more than 50 percent of degrees at the associate level. Such colleges are classified as “mixed” if they conferred more than 10 percent of degrees at the baccalaureate level, and as “associate dominant” if less than 10 percent. Associate colleges are categorized based on how much they focused on career and technical fields that required only an associate degree, compared with fields that required transfer to another institution for further education to obtain related employment. They are also classified by their traditional versus nontraditional student mix: the share of degree-seeking, full-time, and younger students compared with non-degree-seeking and part-time students. Tribal colleges and special-focus institutions are excluded from other categories. Branch campuses are counted separately if reported separately in the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Enrollment represents all full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students in the fall of 2016. Enrollment averages are weighted by the number of institutions in each classification. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.

Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data