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Fastest-Growing Colleges, 2006-16

Almanac 2018
August 19, 2018

Of the 20 fastest-growing public doctoral institutions, 12 were in the Southwest or Southeast. Several institutions that appear in this table could attribute a substantial part of their growth to online education. Others, like the University of California at Merced, California State University-Channel Islands, and the Universities of Washington at Bothell and Tacoma, were founded in the past few decades in anticipation of increased demand for postsecondary education in their regions.

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Of the 20 fastest-growing public doctoral institutions, 12 were in the Southwest or Southeast. Several institutions that appear in this table could attribute a substantial part of their growth to online education. Others, like the University of California at Merced, California State University-Channel Islands, and the Universities of Washington at Bothell and Tacoma, were founded in the past few decades in anticipation of increased demand for postsecondary education in their regions.


Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store. Help guide us to give you the data you need by taking our 10-minute online Almanac survey.


Public institutions

Doctoral

RankInstitution Enrollment,
fall 2006
Enrollment,
fall 2016
Increase
1. U. of California at Merced 1,286 7,336 470.5%
2. Utah State U. 14,444 28,118 94.7%
3. Arizona State U.-Downtown Phoenix 6,229 11,737 88.4%
4. U. of Texas at Dallas 14,523 26,793 84.5%
5. U. of Texas at Arlington 24,825 45,282 82.4%
6. Rowan U. 9,578 17,372 81.4%
7. Texas A&M U. at Commerce 8,471 13,514 59.5%
8. U. of Massachusetts at Lowell 11,207 17,849 59.3%
9. U. of Texas-Rio Grande Valley 17,337 27,560 59.0%
10. U. of Alabama at Tuscaloosa 23,838 37,663 58.0%
11. Oregon State U. 19,352 30,354 56.9%
12. U. of Mississippi 15,220 23,610 55.1%
13. U. of Arkansas at Fayetteville 17,926 27,194 51.7%
14. City U. of New York Graduate Center* 4,869 7,378 51.5%
15. Lamar U. 9,906 15,001 51.4%
16. Missouri U. of Science and Technology 5,858 8,835 50.8%
17. Georgia Institute of Technology 17,936 26,839 49.6%
18. Northern Arizona U. 20,555 30,361 47.7%
19. Rutgers U. at New Brunswick 34,392 50,146 45.8%
20. Florida International U. 37,997 55,003 44.8%
Overall for 190 institutions 4,089,842 4,728,230 15.6%

Master’s

RankInstitution Enrollment,
fall 2006
Enrollment,
fall 2016
Increase
1. U. of Washington at Bothell 1,678 5,734 241.7%
2. U. of Washington at Tacoma 2,292 4,987 117.6%
3. California State U.-Channel Islands 3,123 6,611 111.7%
4. Indiana U. East 2,246 4,479 99.4%
5. U. of Texas of the Permian Basin 3,462 6,673 92.8%
6. California State U.-Monterey Bay 3,818 7,274 90.5%
7. Florida Gulf Coast U. 8,279 14,821 79.0%
8. U. of Maryland University College 33,096 57,529 73.8%
9. Arkansas Tech U. 7,038 11,894 69.0%
10. Massachusetts Maritime Academy 1,045 1,751 67.6%
11. U. of Texas at Tyler 5,926 9,835 66.0%
12. U. of Houston-Victoria 2,653 4,384 65.3%
13. Fort Hays State U. 9,122 14,658 60.7%
14. Southern Arkansas U. 3,113 4,771 53.3%
15. Angelo State U. 6,265 9,581 52.9%
16. Savannah State U. 3,241 4,955 52.9%
17. California State U. at San Marcos 8,734 13,144 50.5%
18. Texas A&M International U. 4,917 7,390 50.3%
19. Utah Valley U. 23,305 34,978 50.1%
20. Northern State U. 2,407 3,587 49.0%
Overall for 262 institutions 2,214,830 2,409,140 8.8%

Baccalaureate

RankInstitution Enrollment,
fall 2006
Enrollment,
fall 2016
Increase
1. U. of Hawaii-West Oahu 866 2,939 239.4%
2. Nevada State College 1,959 3,747 91.3%
3. Oregon Institute of Technology 3,146 5,223 66.0%
4. Purdue U. Northwest 3,724 6,092 63.6%
5. Colorado Mesa U. 6,211 9,735 56.7%
6. Wright State U. Lake Campus 864 1,336 54.6%
7. Indiana U. at Kokomo 2,734 4,106 50.2%
8. State U. of New York College at Farmingdale 6,256 9,235 47.6%
9. U. of South Carolina at Beaufort 1,386 2,005 44.7%
10. U. of Maine at Fort Kent 1,343 1,904 41.8%
11. Valley City State U. 1,037 1,452 40.0%
12. Granite State College 1,553 2,141 37.9%
13. Mayville State U. 832 1,130 35.8%
14. City U. of New York, York College 6,236 8,360 34.1%
15. California State U. Maritime Academy 828 1,107 33.7%
16. City U. of New York, New York City College of Technology 13,368 17,282 29.3%
17. U. of Montana Western 1,176 1,505 28.0%
18. U. of South Carolina-Upstate 4,608 5,821 26.3%
19. Pennsylvania State U. at Abington 3,141 3,951 25.8%
20. City U. of New York Medgar Evers College 5,561 6,819 22.6%
Overall for 86 institutions 222,370 242,694 9.1%

Associate and baccalaureate/associate

RankInstitution Enrollment,
fall 2006
Enrollment,
fall 2016
Increase
1. Delaware Technical and Community College, Terry Campus 2,744 14,479 427.7%
2. Wichita Area Technical College 693 3,592 418.3%
3. Northshore Technical Community College Sullivan Campus 854 3,839 349.5%
4. Northwest Louisiana Technical College at Minden 610 1,972 223.3%
5. Metropolitan Community College (Mo.) 5,369 15,790 194.1%
6. Umpqua Community College 762 2,209 189.9%
7. Blue Ridge Community and Technical College 1,953 5,598 186.6%
8. Eastern Gateway Community College 1,601 4,527 182.8%
9. El Camino College at Compton (Calif.) 2,750 7,492 172.4%
10. South Louisiana Community College 2,424 6,396 163.9%
11. Ranger College 872 2,258 158.9%
12. Saint Louis Community College 7,438 19,052 156.1%
13. Nunez Community College 1,064 2,586 143.1%
14. Arkansas State U.-Newport 1,182 2,735 131.4%
15. Kent State U.-Geauga 1,062 2,416 127.5%
16. West Georgia Technical College-Murphy Campus 3,010 6,743 124.0%
17. Georgia Northwestern Technical College 2,797 6,016 115.1%
18. Sowela Technical Community College 1,535 3,241 111.1%
19. Pennsylvania Highlands Community College 1,260 2,655 110.7%
20. Oconee Fall Line Technical College 719 1,404 95.3%
Overall for 952 institutions 6,266,985 6,753,327 7.8%

•••

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Private nonprofit institutions

Doctoral

RankInstitution Enrollment,
fall 2006
Enrollment,
fall 2016
Increase
1. Liberty U. 17,798 75,756 325.6%
2. U. of the Cumberlands 1,885 7,652 305.9%
3. Regent U. 4,080 8,389 105.6%
4. Maryville U. of Saint Louis 3,333 6,828 104.9%
5. Wilmington U. (Del.) 8,205 15,316 86.7%
6. Lipscomb U. 2,565 4,632 80.6%
7. American International College 1,957 3,377 72.6%
8. Worcester Polytechnic Institute 3,918 6,642 69.5%
9. Benedictine U. 3,900 5,892 51.1%
10. Clarkson U. 2,964 4,384 47.9%
11. Trevecca Nazarene U. 2,217 3,221 45.3%
12. Stevens Institute of Technology 4,829 6,617 37.0%
13. Spalding U. 1,697 2,322 36.8%
14. Rice U. 5,024 6,855 36.5%
15. Widener U. 4,703 6,402 36.1%
16. Florida Institute of Technology 4,741 6,451 36.1%
17. California Institute of Integral Studies 1,073 1,459 36.0%
18. Carnegie Mellon U. 9,999 13,258 32.6%
19. Columbia U. 22,317 29,372 31.6%
20. U. of Southern California 33,389 43,871 31.4%
Overall for 116 institutions 1,190,574 1,377,555 15.7%

Master’s

RankInstitution Enrollment,
fall 2006
Enrollment,
fall 2016
Increase
1. Western Governors U. 6,462 84,289 1,204.4%
2. Southern New Hampshire U. 6,305 73,177 1,060.6%
3. Saint Joseph’s College (N.Y.) 1,310 5,119 290.8%
4. Sage Colleges 800 2,713 239.1%
5. Colorado Christian U. 2,166 7,032 224.7%
6. Mid-America Christian U. 771 2,405 211.9%
7. Bethel U. (Tenn.) 2,076 5,975 187.8%
8. California Baptist U. 3,409 9,157 168.6%
9. U. of New England 3,379 8,263 144.5%
10. Concordia U. at St. Paul 2,046 4,582 124.0%
11. King U. (Tenn.) 1,271 2,804 120.6%
12. Concordia U. (Neb.) 1,251 2,757 120.4%
13. Bay Path U. 1,479 3,225 118.1%
14. Concordia U. Texas 1,267 2,711 114.0%
15. New England College 1,308 2,781 112.6%
16. U. of the Southwest 526 1,088 106.8%
17. Keiser U. at Ft. Lauderdale 9,639 19,688 104.3%
18. U. of Charleston 1,202 2,425 101.8%
19. Anderson U. (S.C.) 1,707 3,432 101.1%
20. Southeastern U. (Fla.) 2,901 5,804 100.1%
Overall for 392 institutions 1,339,268 1,549,639 15.7%

Baccalaureate

RankInstitution Enrollment,
fall 2006
Enrollment,
fall 2016
Increase
1. Ohio Christian U. 506 4,661 821.2%
2. Everglades U. at Boca Raton (Fla.) 644 2,424 276.4%
3. Edward Waters College 842 3,062 263.7%
4. Brigham Young U.-Idaho 14,116 44,821 217.5%
5. Trine U. 1,210 3,712 206.8%
6. William Jessup U. 592 1,318 122.6%
7. U. of Pikeville 1,098 2,365 115.4%
8. Young Harris College 604 1,200 98.7%
9. Midland U. 932 1,709 83.4%
10. Brescia U. 566 1,009 78.3%
11. Concordia College (N.Y.) 677 1,185 75.0%
12. High Point U. 2,811 4,837 72.1%
13. Chowan U. 893 1,534 71.8%
14. Central Baptist College 504 827 64.1%
15. Adrian College 1,051 1,684 60.2%
16. William Peace U. 653 1,034 58.4%
17. Manchester U. 1,056 1,598 51.3%
18. Marymount California U. 652 985 51.1%
19. Wisconsin Lutheran College 741 1,114 50.3%
20. Benedictine College 1,553 2,312 48.9%
Overall for 354 institutions 540,522 584,123 8.1%

Associate and baccalaureate/associate

RankInstitution Enrollment,
fall 2006
Enrollment,
fall 2016
Increase
1. Baker College of Flint 5,776 21,210 267.2%
2. Fisher College 1,121 2,030 81.1%
3. Harcum College 881 1,530 73.7%
4. Latter-Day Saints Business College 1,317 2,119 60.9%
5. Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology 1,097 1,545 40.8%
6. Hallmark College 752 928 23.4%
7. U. of Northwestern Ohio 3,255 3,812 17.1%
8. Wentworth Military Academy and Junior College 602 704 16.9%
9. Villa Maria College of Buffalo 514 589 14.6%
10. Mount Aloysius College 1,587 1,785 12.5%
11. Lackawanna College 1,326 1,489 12.3%
12. Everest U.-Tampa Campus (Fla.) 1,242 1,375 10.7%
13. Ranken Technical College 1,657 1,791 8.1%
14. St. Augustine College (Ill.) 1,299 1,371 5.5%
15. Florida College 513 537 4.7%
16. Bacone College 958 990 3.3%
17. Dean College 1,315 1,339 1.8%
Overall for 45 institutions 61,669 68,073 10.4%

•••

2-year and 4-year for-profit

RankInstitution Enrollment,
fall 2006
Enrollment,
fall 2016
Increase
1. Colorado Technical U. at Colorado Springs 2,299 25,548 1,011.3%
2. Ashford U. 3,836 41,361 978.2%
3. Rasmussen College at St. Cloud (Minn.) 629 4,786 660.9%
4. Grand Canyon U.† 10,297 75,834 636.5%
5. Florida Technical College at Orlando 831 4,753 472.0%
6. San Joaquin Valley College at Visalia (Calif.) 1,040 5,553 433.9%
7. Stratford U. 560 2,925 422.3%
8. Post U. 1,596 7,681 381.3%
9. Miller-Motte Technical College at Wilmington (N.C.) 758 3,015 297.8%
10. Full Sail U. 5,295 19,443 267.2%
11. Pima Medical Institute at Tucson 602 2,109 250.3%
12. Waldorf College 670 2,227 232.4%
13. South College (Tenn.) 653 1,838 181.5%
14. Alliant International U. at San Diego 1,545 4,003 159.1%
15. Capella U. 17,203 37,569 118.4%
16. Walden U. 27,412 52,565 91.8%
17. Western Technical College main campus 570 1,082 89.8%
18. South U. at Columbia (S.C.) 670 1,270 89.6%
19. Florida National U. at Hialeah 1,796 3,251 81.0%
20. LIM College 970 1,720 77.3%
Overall for 260 institutions 480,380 551,685 14.8%

* The figure for the City University of New York Graduate Center includes enrollment at four administratively linked programs: the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (including the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies), the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, and Macaulay Honors College.

† Grand Canyon University converted from for-profit to nonprofit status as of July 1, 2018.

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Note: Data are based on a fall head count of full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students at U.S. degree-granting institutions that were eligible for Title IV federal financial aid and that had at least 500 students in 2006. Growth at some colleges reflects an increase in the number of online-only students. Colleges vary in whether they report enrollment of all campuses and programs together or separately. Changes in reporting methods could account for part of the increases in some cases, and some fast-growing institutions may not appear on the list because they did not use the same Unit ID number to report enrollment in 2006 and 2016. Growth at some institutions was affected by mergers. For instance, Rutgers University at New Brunswick absorbed most units of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2013, and Oconee Fall Line College was created through a merger of Sandersville Technical College and Heart of Georgia Technical College in 2011. Institutions are grouped by the 2015 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The classifications for two-year and four-year special-focus institutions and tribal colleges were omitted. Percentages are rounded, but institutions were ranked before rounding. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.

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

Clarification (9/10/2018, 4:30 p.m.): A footnote was added to clarify that Grand Canyon University, which is listed among for-profit institutions, converted from for-profit to nonprofit status on July 1, 2018.

A version of this article appeared in the August 24, 2018, issue.
Read other items in this Students: Almanac 2018 package.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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