Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders and black college students in the fall of 2016 were more likely to attend four-year for-profit institutions than were other racial and ethnic groups. Nearly 43 percent of all Hispanic college students were enrolled in two-year public institutions, and nearly as large a percentage attended four-year public institutions. While more than 20 percent of students over all attended four-year private nonprofit institutions, Hispanics were underrepresented there, with less than 12 percent of all Hispanic students enrolled in that sector. American Indians were also less likely than other students to be enrolled at four-year private nonprofit institutions.
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Number enrolled in each sector
| All | 19,840,765 | 8,741,896 | 4,027,240 | 981,633 | 5,841,076 | 50,308 | 198,612 |
| Nonresident alien | 996,311 | 542,056 | 339,676 | 20,851 | 90,623 | 997 | 2,108 |
| American Indian | 135,790 | 53,589 | 18,293 | 7,372 | 53,308 | 1,154 | 2,074 |
| Asian | 1,197,810 | 584,005 | 234,794 | 30,825 | 339,990 | 1,274 | 6,922 |
| Black | 2,437,046 | 921,688 | 441,724 | 238,497 | 762,579 | 16,596 | 55,962 |
| Hispanic | 3,272,883 | 1,334,235 | 377,450 | 114,825 | 1,393,804 | 6,265 | 46,304 |
| Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 50,098 | 17,978 | 9,639 | 5,436 | 15,721 | 266 | 1,058 |
| White | 10,141,348 | 4,708,411 | 2,210,516 | 359,441 | 2,775,351 | 21,067 | 66,562 |
| 2 or more races | 635,992 | 301,779 | 116,695 | 24,052 | 187,036 | 1,293 | 5,137 |
Distribution of enrollment by sector
| All | 44.1% | 20.3% | 4.9% | 29.4% | 0.3% | 1.0% |
| Nonresident alien | 54.4% | 34.1% | 2.1% | 9.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| American Indian | 39.5% | 13.5% | 5.4% | 39.3% | 0.8% | 1.5% |
| Asian | 48.8% | 19.6% | 2.6% | 28.4% | 0.1% | 0.6% |
| Black | 37.8% | 18.1% | 9.8% | 31.3% | 0.7% | 2.3% |
| Hispanic | 40.8% | 11.5% | 3.5% | 42.6% | 0.2% | 1.4% |
| Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 35.9% | 19.2% | 10.9% | 31.4% | 0.5% | 2.1% |
| White | 46.4% | 21.8% | 3.5% | 27.4% | 0.2% | 0.7% |
| 2 or more races | 47.5% | 18.3% | 3.8% | 29.4% | 0.2% | 0.8% |
Note: All racial/ethnic categories are mutually exclusive; the Department of Education counts Hispanic and nonresident alien students as part of distinct racial or ethnic categories. The 973,487 students whose race was unknown are not shown in the table, but they are included in the total figures. “Nonresident alien” is the U.S. government’s term for non-U.S. citizens, or foreign nationals, without permanent-resident status to live in the United States. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data
