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Digest of Education Statistics
2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 303.90. Fall enrollment and number of degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by control and religious affiliation of institution: Selected years, 1980 through 2020
Control and religious affiliation of institution Total enrollment Enrollment, fall 2020 Number of institutions1
Fall 1980 Fall 1990 Fall 2000 Fall 2010 Fall 2018 Fall 2019 Total Full-time Part-time
Males Females Males Females Fall 1980 Fall 1990 Fall 2000 Fall 2010 Fall 2020
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
All institutions 12,096,895 13,818,637 15,312,289 21,019,438 19,651,412 19,630,178 18,991,798 4,980,417 6,610,936 2,889,128 4,511,317 3,226 3,501 4,056 4,589 3,928
Public institutions 9,457,394 10,844,717 11,752,786 15,142,171 14,539,257 14,503,647 13,867,239 3,469,999 4,420,195 2,387,520 3,589,525 1,493 1,548 1,676 1,652 1,586
Federal 50,989 50,669 16,917 21,610 20,382 20,473 20,829 12,289 6,146 648 1,746 12 17 12 14 14
State (2) 7,181,380 9,548,090 12,364,881 12,106,016 12,095,124 11,691,920 3,116,502 3,975,454 1,839,907 2,760,057 (2) 978 1,355 1,331 1,278
Local3 (2) 3,508,941 2,078,090 2,542,044 2,214,951 2,187,701 1,966,223 297,608 380,989 514,257 773,369 (2) 523 277 261 253
Other public 9,406,405 103,727 109,689 213,636 197,908 200,349 188,267 43,600 57,606 32,708 54,353 1,481 30 32 46 41

Private institutions
2,639,501 2,973,920 3,559,503 5,877,267 5,112,155 5,126,531 5,124,559 1,510,418 2,190,741 501,608 921,792 1,733 1,953 2,380 2,937 2,342
Independent nonprofit 1,521,614 1,474,818 1,577,242 1,994,900 2,244,672 2,278,214 2,266,725 727,057 976,747 211,957 350,964 795 709 729 736 776
For-profit 111,714 213,693 450,084 2,022,785 980,309 991,159 1,023,540 215,326 414,121 112,068 282,025 164 322 724 1,310 704

Religiously affiliated4
1,006,173 1,285,409 1,532,177 1,859,582 1,887,174 1,857,158 1,834,294 568,035 799,873 177,583 288,803 774 922 927 891 862
Advent Christian Church 143 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 1 --- --- --- ---
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 1,091 88 34 1,536 1,484 1,440 1,106 529 505 40 32 3 1 1 3 3
African Methodist Episcopal 4,541 3,220 5,980 2,674 5,633 5,433 4,299 1,288 1,418 730 863 6 5 6 5 6
American Baptist 6,131 10,800 15,410 15,120 12,622 13,024 13,377 3,842 5,082 1,626 2,827 11 15 17 18 17
American Evangelical Lutheran Church --- --- 743 1,340 1,443 1,476 1,499 656 779 21 43 --- --- 1 1 1

American Lutheran and Lutheran Church
    in America
3,092 --- 1,460 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 3 --- 1 --- ---
American Lutheran 21,608 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 13 --- --- --- ---
Assemblies of God Church 7,814 8,307 14,272 15,806 20,790 22,090 21,253 5,879 8,095 3,054 4,225 10 11 14 16 15
Baptist 38,231 99,510 107,610 174,538 113,415 127,696 130,284 38,589 52,596 18,212 20,887 33 69 68 69 60
Brethren Church 3,925 958 2,088 8,506 8,656 7,048 6,348 1,742 2,757 731 1,118 3 3 3 3 2

Brethren in Christ Church
1,301 2,239 2,797 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 1 1 1 --- ---
Christian and Missionary Alliance
    Church
1,705 2,519 5,278 6,455 6,351 6,190 6,101 1,530 2,124 963 1,484 3 4 4 4 4
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 14,913 30,397 35,984 52,839 49,113 46,725 44,610 13,823 20,318 4,283 6,186 12 18 16 18 19
Christian Churches and Churches of
    Christ
1,342 2,263 7,277 10,074 10,059 9,272 8,617 2,999 2,916 1,187 1,515 7 8 18 18 15
Christian Methodist Episcopal 2,486 2,174 1,502 4,817 3,824 3,663 3,299 1,526 1,562 96 115 4 4 1 3 3

Christian Reformed Church
5,408 4,488 5,999 5,625 5,630 5,412 5,214 2,188 2,318 351 357 3 2 3 3 3
Church of Christ (Scientist) 2,773 2,557 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 6 8 --- --- ---
Church of God of Prophecy --- 249 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 1 --- --- ---
Church of God 6,082 5,627 12,540 16,731 16,412 15,734 16,043 4,086 6,717 2,200 3,040 9 9 7 7 9
Church of New Jerusalem 170 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 1 --- --- --- ---

Church of the Brethren
8,482 4,463 4,187 6,154 6,255 4,076 3,985 1,941 1,836 87 121 6 5 4 5 4
Church of the Nazarene 11,716 10,779 16,661 21,144 23,353 23,136 21,908 6,250 9,952 1,884 3,822 10 9 12 10 10
Churches of Christ 9,343 14,611 30,140 35,538 35,453 35,823 36,660 10,709 15,583 3,638 6,730 9 19 19 17 18
Cumberland Presbyterian 594 746 1,112 4,652 5,615 4,775 4,184 1,302 1,488 531 863 2 2 2 2 2
Episcopal Church, Reformed 67 --- --- --- 1,179 1,123 1,187 67 315 101 704 1 --- --- --- 2

Evangelical Christian
--- --- --- --- 83,835 90,246 97,970 23,214 33,688 17,359 23,709 --- --- --- --- 4
Evangelical Congregational Church 80 88 148 153 151 161 179 56 25 63 35 1 1 1 1 1
Evangelical Covenant Church of America 1,401 1,035 2,387 3,233 2,981 2,987 2,924 762 1,139 387 636 1 1 1 1 2
Evangelical Free Church of America 833 2,355 4,022 2,926 1,998 1,932 1,626 569 308 450 299 1 2 3 2 2
Evangelical Lutheran Church 743 49,210 49,085 56,162 52,138 51,199 49,488 19,161 26,033 1,556 2,738 3 33 34 33 27

Free Methodist
5,543 5,902 7,323 12,270 10,721 10,411 10,048 2,539 5,711 511 1,287 5 3 4 5 5
Free Will Baptist Church 1,132 1,177 2,378 528 733 827 744 288 266 82 108 4 3 4 3 4
Friends United Meeting 1,109 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 1 --- --- --- ---
Friends 5,157 5,844 10,898 13,876 11,070 10,814 10,543 3,658 4,736 770 1,379 5 6 8 7 7
General Baptist --- --- --- --- 1,419 1,435 1,241 287 323 254 377 --- --- --- --- 1

General Conference Mennonite Church
820 1,243 1,059 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 2 2 1 --- ---
Greek Orthodox 204 148 132 220 350 365 375 210 128 20 17 1 1 1 1 2
Interdenominational 1,254 11,103 9,788 33,778 40,596 40,030 40,069 11,408 16,175 6,181 6,305 4 17 14 31 32
Jewish 5,738 12,217 14,182 12,755 14,221 14,847 15,976 11,740 2,731 412 1,093 24 63 62 36 36
Latter-Day Saints 39,172 42,274 44,680 53,514 82,012 78,488 85,951 26,258 28,383 13,480 17,830 4 4 4 4 4

Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
11,727 13,827 18,866 28,255 35,715 35,856 30,305 6,930 11,675 4,076 7,624 15 14 13 12 10
Lutheran Church in America 23,877 5,796 4,322 8,240 6,004 5,661 5,192 1,871 2,784 128 409 20 5 2 3 2
Mennonite Brethren Church 1,344 1,864 2,390 4,136 5,005 4,942 4,637 1,079 2,267 399 892 3 3 3 3 2
Mennonite Church 4,008 2,859 3,553 4,263 3,704 3,559 3,580 1,210 1,582 219 569 6 5 5 6 6
Missionary Church Inc 487 699 1,647 2,152 1,513 1,450 1,362 398 647 93 224 1 1 1 1 1

Moravian Church
2,434 2,511 2,939 3,095 3,356 3,304 3,241 784 1,665 170 622 2 2 2 2 2
Multiple Protestant denominations 5,526 211 4,690 5,350 4,663 4,531 4,307 879 1,384 1,089 955 8 1 7 6 6
Nondenominational --- --- --- --- 1,364 1,500 1,505 587 819 59 40 --- --- --- --- 6
North American Baptist 155 --- 124 120 306 419 508 76 58 262 112 1 --- 1 1 1
Original Free Will Baptist --- --- --- 3,855 3,208 2,805 2,536 553 850 290 843 --- --- --- 1 1

Pentecostal Holiness Church
767 566 976 1,272 1,518 1,476 1,369 665 520 88 96 3 3 2 3 2
Presbyterian --- --- --- --- 3,295 3,255 3,186 1,066 1,610 152 358 --- --- --- --- 3
Presbyterian USA 47,144 77,700 78,950 85,719 80,691 78,054 76,414 26,918 36,527 3,842 9,127 57 70 64 58 54
Presbyterian Church in America --- 1,877 4,499 2,071 1,567 1,511 1,504 499 513 287 205 --- 1 5 2 2
Protestant Episcopal 5,396 4,559 5,479 5,006 3,535 3,817 3,768 1,586 1,685 217 280 12 9 12 11 8

Protestant, other
4,072 38,136 30,116 13,450 18,960 18,796 18,637 5,043 6,769 2,986 3,839 11 44 34 23 26
Reformed Church in America 2,713 5,525 6,002 6,555 5,992 6,093 6,155 2,259 2,933 355 608 4 4 5 5 5
Reformed Presbyterian Church 2,014 1,556 2,355 2,982 2,325 2,458 2,292 1,081 793 239 179 4 2 2 3 2
Reorganized Latter-Day Saints Church 4,274 4,793 3,390 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 2 1 2 --- ---
Roman Catholic 422,842 530,585 636,336 751,091 706,938 696,264 681,976 208,686 318,208 52,357 102,725 229 239 239 237 223

Russian Orthodox
47 38 106 60 90 85 79 61 5 12 1 1 1 1 1 1
Seventh-Day Adventists 19,168 15,771 19,223 25,430 23,298 22,408 21,696 6,629 9,878 1,789 3,400 11 11 13 14 13
Southern Baptist 85,281 49,493 54,275 49,936 65,762 54,340 54,730 15,939 20,718 7,703 10,370 54 29 32 22 22
Undenominational --- 6,758 23,573 27,748 35,983 34,748 34,404 7,117 10,979 6,077 10,231 --- 14 16 16 18
Unitarian Universalist 87 82 132 166 164 162 170 36 63 19 52 2 2 2 2 2

United Brethren Church
545 601 938 1,260 1,302 1,384 1,391 373 644 140 234 1 1 1 1 1
United Church of Christ 14,169 20,175 23,709 20,537 15,336 15,529 15,556 4,931 6,578 1,334 2,713 16 18 18 17 14
United Methodist 127,099 148,851 171,109 206,744 200,108 188,603 181,339 64,236 87,704 10,704 18,695 91 96 100 96 87
Wesleyan Church 3,583 5,311 11,128 20,670 18,339 18,884 18,091 5,003 11,007 619 1,462 5 4 4 6 8
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod 808 931 1,660 1,677 2,220 2,142 2,134 770 875 200 289 1 3 2 2 2
Other religiously affiliated 462 5,743 2,534 4,778 5,401 5,244 5,122 1,674 2,126 418 904 1 9 4 11 12
---Not available.
1 Counts of institutions in this table may be lower than reported in other tables because counts in this table exclude institutions reporting enrollment data through a parent school.
2 Included under "Other public."
3 Includes public institutions whose primary control was territorial, school district, county, city, or special district.
4 Religious affiliation as reported by institution.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data for 1980 and 1990 are for institutions of higher education, while later data are for degree-granting institutions. Degree-granting institutions grant associate's or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. The degree-granting classification is very similar to the earlier higher education classification, but it includes more 2-year colleges and excludes a few higher education institutions that did not grant degrees. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), "Fall Enrollment in Institutions of Higher Education" and "Institutional Characteristics" surveys, 1980; Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Fall Enrollment Survey" (IPEDS-EF:90) and "Institutional Characteristics Survey" (IPEDS-IC:90); and IPEDS Spring 2001 through Spring 2021, Fall Enrollment component. (This table was prepared January 2022.)

2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest