Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    College Advising
    Serving Higher Ed
    Chronicle Festival 2025
Sign In

Sources & Notes

August 19, 2013
The States

Sources & Notes

This is an explanation of the data for the individual 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as summary data for the United States.

The figures are comparable from state to state and were the latest available at press time. The time period covered by the data varies from item to item, as shown on this list. Data are for all degree-granting institutions that are eligible to receive Title IV federal financial aid unless otherwise specified.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

The States

Sources & Notes

This is an explanation of the data for the individual 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as summary data for the United States.

The figures are comparable from state to state and were the latest available at press time. The time period covered by the data varies from item to item, as shown on this list. Data are for all degree-granting institutions that are eligible to receive Title IV federal financial aid unless otherwise specified.

The U.S. Education Department typically releases statistics on colleges and universities a few years after collecting the data.

Percentages are rounded and so may not add up to 100 percent. The designation “n/a” indicates the data are not available or not applicable. In some instances, U.S. totals may include data on military institutions and outlying areas that are not shown separately.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Population, age distribution, racial and ethnic distribution, educational attainment of adults, proportion who speak a language other than English at home, and poverty rate:

SOURCE: Census Bureau, American Community Survey (www.census.gov/acs)

DATE: 2011

NOTE: For “racial and ethnic distribution,” the complete names of the categories are as follows: American Indian and Alaska Native alone; Asian alone; black or African-American alone; Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander alone; Hispanic or Latino; white alone; two or more races; and race unknown. Hispanics may be of any race. For “educational attainment,” figures describe people 25 years old and older. High-school diploma recipients include those who obtained a GED or alternative credential. Figures for the “proportion who speak a language other than English at home” cover people 5 years and older. For “poverty rate,” poverty thresholds vary by family size and composition. In 2011, for example, the average threshold for a family of four was $23,021.

Per capita personal income:

SOURCE: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (www.bea.gov/regional)

DATE: 2012 (estimates updated on March 27, 2013).

NOTE: Personal income includes not only monetary income from earnings, but property income (such as personal dividend, interest, and rental income), and personal current transfer receipts (such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid).

ADVERTISEMENT

New high-school graduates and projected change in number of graduates:

SOURCE: Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (knocking.wiche.edu)

DATE: 2012

New GED diploma recipients:

SOURCE: GED Testing Service, American Council on Education (www.gedtestingservice.com)

DATE: 2012

NOTE: General Educational Development credentials are high-school-equivalency certificates awarded to high-school dropouts who pass the GED test.

High-school dropout rate:

SOURCE: Census Bureau, American Community Survey (www.census.gov/acs)

DATE: 2011

NOTE: Figures describe people 16 to 19 years of age who are not enrolled in school and are not high-school graduates.

FACULTY PAY

Average pay of full-time professors:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: 2011-12

NOTE: Figures cover full-time members of the instructional staff on nine-month contracts at degree-granting institutions only. Figures do not include medical-school faculty members. The average for all faculty members includes the categories of instructors, lecturers, and faculty members without rank. Those categories are not shown separately.

STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS

Enrollment:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: Fall 2011

NOTE: Figures show total enrollment of full- and part-time students. For-profit institutions include two- and four-year colleges and universities. Figures for some states include large numbers of students living elsewhere who enrolled in online-only courses offered by for-profit institutions based in those states—for example, at the University of Phoenix, in Arizona. Such out-of-state students are not reported separately.

Degrees awarded:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: 2010-11

NOTE: Doctorates include professional degrees such as medical and law degrees.

Residence of new students:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: Fall 2010

NOTE: Figures cover only freshmen who graduated from high school in the previous year and are from the most recent year when institutions were required to report residency data to the Education Department.

Graduation rates at 4-year institutions:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: 2011

NOTE: Figures show the proportion of first-time, full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates who entered degree-granting four-year institutions in the fall of 2005 and graduated within six years.

DIVERSITY

Number enrolled:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: Fall 2011

NOTE: Figures for American Indians include Alaska Natives. Figures for racial categories exclude people of Hispanic ethnicity, who are shown separately and may be of any race. “Foreign students” are nonresident aliens studying in the United States on a temporary basis. All proportions are based on total enrollment of undergraduate and graduate students attending full and part time. “Underrepresented minorities” are American Indian, black, and Hispanic students, who attend college at disproportionately low rates compared with the percentage of those groups in the U.S. population. “Minorities” are those groups plus Asians, Pacific Islanders, and students of two or more races. Figures for some states include large numbers of students living elsewhere who enrolled in online-only courses offered by for-profit institutions based in those states—for example, at the University of Phoenix, in Arizona. Such out-of-state students are not reported separately.

Share of enrollment:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: Fall 2011

NOTE: All proportions are based on total enrollment of undergraduate and graduate students attending full and part time. “Minorities” include students who are American Indian, Asian, black, or Hispanic. “For-profit institutions” include two- and four-year colleges and universities. Figures for some states include large numbers of students living elsewhere who enrolled in online-only courses offered by for-profit institutions based in those states—for example, at the University of Phoenix, in Arizona. Such out-of-state students are not reported separately.

Test scores:

SOURCE: ACT (www.act.org); College Board (www.collegeboard.org)

DATE: ACT, 2012; SAT, 2012

NOTE: The ACT is scored on a scale from 1 to 36. SAT scores include the critical-reading and math sections only, which together are scored on a scale of 400 to 1600.

FINANCE

Average tuition and fees:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: 2011-12

NOTE: The figures cover undergraduate charges and are weighted by full-time-equivalent undergraduate enrollment. The figures for public institutions represent charges to state residents.

ADVERTISEMENT

State funds for higher-education operating expenses:

SOURCE: Center for the Study of Education Policy, Illinois State University (grapevine.illinoisstate.edu)

DATE: 2012-13

NOTE: Figures are estimates released in January 2013 of the one-year change from 2011-12 to 2012-13 and so do not reflect midyear budget reductions made after that date. Spending includes state tax appropriations, federal stimulus monies, and other state monies appropriated for colleges and universities, student aid, and governing and coordinating boards. A few states enact a single budget every two years.

State spending on student aid:

SOURCE: National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (www.nassgap.org)

DATE: 2011-12

NOTE: The statistics cover aid to both undergraduate and graduate students. The category “nongrant aid” includes loans, tuition waivers, work-study, loan assumption programs, and conditional grants.

ADVERTISEMENT

Total spending on research and development by colleges and universities:

SOURCE: National Science Foundation (www.nsf.gov)

DATE: 2010-11

NOTE: Figures are based on reporting by colleges and universities of their expenditures in the natural and social sciences and in engineering.

Largest endowment:

SOURCE: National Association of College and University Business Officers (www.nacubo.org)

DATE: As of June 30, 2012

NOTE: Results are based on 831 endowments of American colleges and universities.

Top fund raisers:

SOURCE: Council for Aid to Education (www.cae.org)

DATE: 2011-12

NOTE: Figures are based on a survey of 1,027 institutions. Totals for university systems or multiple campuses were included only if data for the individual campuses making up the system were not given separately. Some institutions that might have been among the top fund raisers were omitted only because they did not participate in the survey. Rankings may be heavily influenced by the timing of fund drives, unusually large gifts, and other factors.

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Number of institutions:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: 2011

NOTE: Statistics include two- and four-year degree-granting postsecondary institutions eligible to participate in federal financial-aid programs. Public institutions include those operated by local and state governments, as well as military academies and other institutions operated by the federal government.

3 largest institutions, by enrollment:

SOURCE: U.S. Education Department (nces.ed.gov)

DATE: Fall 2011

NOTE: Figures represent the total of all full-time undergraduate and graduate students enrolled as of the institution’s official fall reporting date or as of October 15.

Institutions censured or sanctioned by the AAUP:

SOURCE: American Association of University Professors (www.aaup.org)

DATE: Action as of June 2013

NOTE: The AAUP censures the administrations of institutions that it finds have violated the standards of academic freedom and tenure it developed in 1940 with the Association of American Colleges and Universities. The standards, endorsed by more than 150 other academic organizations, seek to protect the rights of faculty members to free speech without fear of penalty, and to due process in decisions on appointment, promotion, and tenure. The association also sanctions institutions for infringements of shared governance. The six institutions that have received that sanction are identified with the word “governance.”

Institutions on NCAA probation:

SOURCE: National Collegiate Athletic Association (www.ncaa.org)

DATE: Current as of June 30, 2013

Correction (9/24/2014): All tables in the 2013 Almanac’s States section have been updated to make them more comparable to ones published in other years. The data are now limited to degree-granting institutions that are eligible to receive Title IV federal financial aid, not all higher-education institutions. Administrative offices that were inadvertently counted as institutions in the original version of the tables have been omitted from the total number of institutions in each state. Figures for tuition and fees, which had incorrectly excluded fees, now reflect both tuition and fees. The three largest institutions by enrollment give figures for full-time students in fall 2011, not an unduplicated head count of all undergraduate and graduate students enrolled over a 12-month period for 2010-11.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Brad Wolverton
Newsroom leadership
The Chronicle of Higher Education Names Brad Wolverton as Editor
Vector illustration of large open scissors  with several workers in seats dangling by white lines
Iced Out
The Death of Shared Governance
Illustration showing money being funnelled into the top of a microscope.
'A New Era'
Higher-Ed Associations Pitch an Alternative to Trump’s Cap on Research Funding
Illustration showing classical columns of various heights, each turning into a stack of coins
Endowment funds
The Nation’s Wealthiest Small Colleges Just Won a Big Tax Exemption

From The Review

Illustration of an ocean tide shaped like Donald Trump about to wash away sandcastles shaped like a college campus.
The Review | Essay
Why Universities Are So Powerless in Their Fight Against Trump
By Jason Owen-Smith
Photo-based illustration of a closeup of a pencil meshed with a circuit bosrd
The Review | Essay
How Are Students Really Using AI?
By Derek O'Connell
John T. Scopes as he stood before the judges stand and was sentenced, July 2025.
The Review | Essay
100 Years Ago, the Scopes Monkey Trial Discovered Academic Freedom
By John K. Wilson

Upcoming Events

07-31-Turbulent-Workday_assets v2_Plain.png
Keeping Your Institution Moving Forward in Turbulent Times
Ascendium_Housing_Plain.png
What It Really Takes to Serve Students’ Basic Needs: Housing
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin