Enrollment by Carnegie Classification, Fall 2017

Two classifications of institutions together enroll more than a third of all students: doctoral universities with the highest research activity, and master’s institutions with larger programs. Ten percent of all colleges are special-focus two-year institutions, which confer degrees mainly in one field. Those institutions are predominantly for-profit and enroll less than 1 percent of all college students.

Number of institutions by classification

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Enrollment by classification

Note: Numbers of institutions and enrollment figures are drawn from fall 2017 data in the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, or Ipeds, for degree-granting four- and two-year institutions eligible to participate in Title IV federal student-aid programs. Classifications are from the 2018 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, a project of Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research. The classifications were determined using 2016-17 data.

Doctoral universities are those that awarded at least 20 research/scholarship doctorates, or at least 30 professional-practice doctorates across at least two programs. The level of research activity for universities reporting more than $5 million in research spending was determined using a complex formula.

Master’s institutions awarded at least 50 master’s degrees but fewer than 20 research doctorates. Larger programs awarded at least 200 degrees; medium, 100-199; smaller, 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 colleges are generally ones that awarded at least 50-percent bachelor’s degrees and fewer than 50 master’s degrees. They are considered to have an arts-and-sciences focus if at least half the bachelor’s degrees awarded were in the arts and sciences; otherwise they are classified as “diverse fields.”

Baccalaureate/associate colleges include those 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 require only an associate degree, compared with fields that require 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 Ipeds.

Enrollment averages are weighted by the number of institutions in each classification. Ninety-seven unclassified institutions, with a total of 12,985 students, were excluded from the data. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to Ruth Hammond.

Sources: Indiana U. Center for Postsecondary Research, Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education; U.S. Department of Education; Chronicle analysis

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