A fifth of graduate students at four-year public institutions and nearly a quarter of graduate students at four-year private nonprofit institutions studied exclusively through distance education. At four-year for-profit institutions, nearly 84 percent of graduate students did. Undergraduates were far less likely to study through distance education only, though nearly two-thirds of undergraduates at four-year for-profit institutions did.
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| 4-year public institutions | undergraduate | 5,170,379 | 71.0% | 1,569,845 | 21.5% | 545,646 | 7.5% | 7,285,870 | 100.0% |
| 4-year public institutions | graduate | 1,001,308 | 69.4% | 149,000 | 10.3% | 291,578 | 20.2% | 1,441,886 | 100.0% |
| 4-year public institutions | total | 6,171,687 | 70.7% | 1,718,845 | 19.7% | 837,224 | 9.6% | 8,727,756 | 100.0% |
| 4-year private nonprofit institutions | undergraduate | 2,106,874 | 76.3% | 249,918 | 9.0% | 405,420 | 14.7% | 2,762,212 | 100.0% |
| 4-year private nonprofit institutions | graduate | 843,786 | 66.7% | 115,589 | 9.1% | 305,653 | 24.2% | 1,265,028 | 100.0% |
| 4-year private nonprofit institutions | total | 2,950,660 | 73.3% | 365,507 | 9.1% | 711,073 | 17.7% | 4,027,240 | 100.0% |
| 4-year for-profit institutions | undergraduate | 155,286 | 21.7% | 93,883 | 13.1% | 467,576 | 65.2% | 716,745 | 100.0% |
| 4-year for-profit institutions | graduate | 32,181 | 12.1% | 11,363 | 4.3% | 221,344 | 83.6% | 264,888 | 100.0% |
| 4-year for-profit institutions | total | 187,467 | 19.1% | 105,246 | 10.7% | 688,920 | 70.2% | 981,633 | 100.0% |
| 2-year public institutions | undergraduate | 4,021,449 | 68.8% | 1,111,790 | 19.0% | 708,283 | 12.1% | 5,841,522 | 100.0% |
| 2-year private nonprofit institutions | undergraduate | 30,088 | 59.5% | 2,924 | 5.8% | 17,545 | 34.7% | 50,557 | 100.0% |
| 2-year for-profit institutions | undergraduate | 171,168 | 86.2% | 17,874 | 9.0% | 9,570 | 4.8% | 198,612 | 100.0% |
| All institutions | undergraduate | 11,655,244 | 69.1% | 3,046,234 | 18.1% | 2,154,040 | 12.8% | 16,855,518 | 100.0% |
| All institutions | graduate | 1,877,275 | 63.2% | 275,952 | 9.3% | 818,575 | 27.5% | 2,971,802 | 100.0% |
| All institutions | total | 13,532,519 | 68.3% | 3,322,186 | 16.8% | 2,972,615 | 15.0% | 19,827,320 | 100.0% |
Note: Data cover 4,367 degree-granting four-year and two-year institutions in the United States that are eligible to participate in the Title IV federal student-aid program. Distance education refers to the use of one or more technologies to instruct students who are separated by distance from the instructor, and to support interaction between students and the instructor. The technologies may include the internet, closed-circuit television, and audio conferencing. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data