Chapter 3: Postsecondary Education
Postsecondary education includes an array of diverse educational experiences, including a wide range of programs offered by American colleges and universities. For example, a community college may offer vocational training or the first 2 years of training at the college level. A university typically offers a full undergraduate course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree as well as first professional and graduate programs leading to advanced degrees. Vocational and technical institutions offer training programs that are designed to prepare students for specific careers. Community groups, religious organizations, libraries, and businesses provide other types of educational opportunities for adults.
This chapter provides an overview of the latest statistics on postsecondary education, which includes academic, vocational, and continuing professional education programs after high school. However, to maintain comparability over time, most of the data in the Digest are for degree-granting institutions, which are defined as postsecondary institutions that grant an associate’s or higher degree and are eligible for Title IV federal financial aid.1 Degree-granting institutions include almost all 2- and 4-year colleges and universities; they exclude institutions offering only vocational programs of less than 2 years’ duration and continuing education programs. The degree-granting classification is very similar to the higher education classification that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) used prior to 1996–97.2 This chapter highlights historical data that enable the reader to observe long-range trends in college education in America.
Other chapters provide related information on postsecondary education. Data on price indexes and on the number of degrees held by the general population are shown in chapter 1. Chapter 4 contains tabulations on federal funding for postsecondary education. Information on employment outcomes for college graduates is shown in chapter 5. Chapter 7 contains data on college libraries and use of computers by young adults. Further information on survey methodologies is presented in the Guide to Sources in the appendix and in the publications cited in the source notes.
Enrollment
Enrollment in degree-granting institutions increased by 17 percent between 1984 and 1994 (table 170 and figure 11). Between 1994 and 2004, enrollment increased at a faster rate (21 percent), from 14.3 million to 17.3 million. Much of the growth between 1994 and 2004 was in female enrollment; the number of men enrolled rose 16 percent, while the number of women increased by 25 percent. During the same time period, part-time enrollment rose by 8 percent compared to an increase of 30 percent in full-time enrollment. In addition to the enrollment in accredited 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, and universities, about 429,000 students attended non-degree-granting, Title IV eligible, postsecondary institutions in fall 2003 (table 168).
The number of young students has been growing more rapidly than the number of older students, but this pattern is expected to shift (table 172 and figure 13). Between 1990 and 2004, the enrollment of students under age 25 increased by 31 percent. Enrollment of persons 25 and over rose by 17 percent during the same period. From 2004 to 2014, NCES projects a rise of 11 percent in enrollments of persons under 25, and an increase of 15 percent in the number 25 and over.
Enrollment trends have differed at the undergraduate, graduate, and first professional levels. Undergraduate enrollment generally increased during the 1970s, but dipped slightly between 1983 and 1985 (table 185). From 1985 to 1992, undergraduate enrollment increased each year, rising 18 percent before declining slightly and stabilizing between 1993 and 1996. Undergraduate enrollment rose 20 percent between 1996 and 2004. Graduate enrollment had been steady at about 1.3 million in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but rose about 57 percent between 1985 and 2004 (table 186). After rising very rapidly during the 1970s, enrollment in first professional programs stabilized in the 1980s (table 187). First-professional enrollment began rising again in the 1990s and showed an increase of 14 percent between 1994 and 2004.
Since 1984, the number of women in graduate schools has exceeded the number of men (table 186). Between 1994 and 2004, the number of male full-time graduate students increased by 25 percent, compared to 66 percent for full-time women. Among part-time graduate students, the number of men increased by 3 percent compared to a 17 percent increase for women.
The proportion of American college students who are minorities has been increasing. In 1976, some 15 percent were minorities, compared with 30 percent in 2004 (table 205). Much of the change can be attributed to rising numbers of Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander students. The proportion of Asian or Pacific Islander students rose from 1 percent to 6 percent, and the Hispanic proportion rose from 4 percent to 10 percent during that time period. The proportion of Black students fluctuated during most of the early part of the period, before rising to 13 percent in 2004 from 9 percent in 1976. Nonresident aliens for whom race/ethnicity is not reported comprised 3 percent of the total enrollment in 2004.
Despite the sizable numbers of small degree-granting colleges, most students attend the larger colleges and universities. In fall 2003, 39 percent of institutions had fewer than 1,000 students; however, these campuses enrolled 4 percent of college students (table 213). While 12 percent of the campuses enrolled 10,000 or more students, they accounted for 54 percent of total college enrollment.
Faculty, Staff, and Salaries
Approximately 3.2 million people were employed in colleges and universities in the fall of 2003, including 2.3 million professional and 0.9 million nonprofessional staff (table 223). In the fall of 2003, there were 1.2 million faculty members in degree-granting institutions, including 0.6 million full-time and 0.5 million part-time faculty. The proportion of administrative staff and other non-teaching professional staff rose from 15 percent in 1976 to 25 percent in 2003, while the proportion of nonprofessional staff declined from 42 percent to 29 percent (table 222). The student/staff ratio at colleges and universities declined from 5.4 in 1976 to 5.1 in 2003. During the same time period, the student/faculty ratio declined from 16.6 to 15.6.
Colleges differ in their practices of employing part-time and full-time staff. In fall 2003, 49 percent of the employees at public 2-year colleges were employed full-time compared with 69 percent at public 4-year colleges and 70 percent at private 4-year colleges (table 223). A higher proportion of the faculty at public 4-year colleges were employed full-time (70 percent) than at private 4-year colleges (54 percent) or public 2-year colleges (32 percent).
About 15 percent of U.S. faculty in colleges and universities were minorities in 2003 (based on a total excluding persons whose race/ethnicity was unknown, but including non-resident aliens who were not identified by race/ethnicity) (table 224). Six percent of the faculty were Black, 5 percent were Asian/Pacific Islanders, 4 percent were Hispanic, and 0.5 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native. Nearly half of college faculty (47 percent) were White males, while 36 percent were White females. About 17 percent of executive, managerial, and administrative staffs were minorities in 2003, compared to about 31 percent of the nonprofessional staff. The proportion of minority staffs at public 4-year colleges (22 percent) was similar to the proportion at private 4-year colleges (21 percent).
The proportion of time that full-time instructional faculty and staff spent teaching averaged 58 percent in 2003 (table 228). For the remaining faculty time, research and scholarship accounted for 20 percent of the time; and 22 percent was spent on other activities, e.g., administration, professional growth, etc.
College faculty generally suffered losses in the purchasing power of their salaries from 1972–73 to 1980–81, when average salaries declined 17 percent after adjustment for inflation (table 235). During the 1980s, average salaries rose and recouped most of the losses. Between 1994–95 and 2004–05, there was a further increase in average faculty salaries, resulting in an average about 4 percent higher than in 1972–73, after adjustment for inflation. Average salaries for men in 2004–05 ($69,337) were higher than the average for women ($56,926), but women’s salaries have increased at a slightly faster rate (8 vs. 6 percent) since 1994–95.
The proportion of faculty with tenure has declined slightly in recent years. About 50 percent of full time instructional faculty had tenure in 2003–04 compared with 56 percent in 1993–94 (table 242). A difference existed between the proportion of men and women with tenure. Fifty-six percent of men compared to 42 percent of women had tenure in 2003–04. About 53 percent of the instructional faculty at public institutions had tenure, compared to 45 percent of faculty at private institutions.
Degrees
During the 2004–05 academic year, 4,216 accredited institutions offered degrees at the associate’s degree level or above (table 244). These included 2,533 4 year colleges and universities, and 1,683 2 year colleges. Institutions awarding various degrees in 2003–04 numbered 2,636 for associate’s degrees, 2,121 for bachelor’s degrees, 1,580 for master’s degrees, and 568 for doctor’s degrees (table 255).
Growing numbers of people are completing college degrees. Between 1993–94 and 2003–04, the number of associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, first-professional, and doctor’s degrees rose (table 246). Associate’s degrees increased 25 percent, bachelor’s degrees increased 20 percent, master’s degrees increased 44 percent, and doctor’s degrees increased 12 percent during this period. The number of first-professional degrees was 10 percent higher in 2003–04 than it was in 1993–94.
Since the mid 1980s, more women than men have earned associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees (table 246). Also, the number of women receiving all types of degrees has increased at a faster rate than for men. Between 1993–94 and 2003–04, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to men increased by 12 percent, while those awarded to women rose by 26 percent. During the same time period, the number of males earning doctor’s degrees declined by 5 percent, while the number of females earning doctor’s degrees rose by 39 percent.
Of the 1,400,000 bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2003–04, the largest numbers of degrees were conferred in the fields of business (307,000), social sciences and history (150,000), and education (106,000) (table 249). At the master’s degree level, the largest fields were education (162,000) and business (139,000) (table 250). The largest fields at the doctor’s degree level were education (7,100), engineering (5,900), biological and biomedical sciences (5,200), psychology (4,800), and health professions and related clinical sciences (4,400) (table 251).
The pattern of bachelor’s degrees by field of study has shifted significantly in recent years. While the number of degrees increased 20 percent overall between 1993–94 and 2003–04, in some fields such as mathematics and the combined fields of engineering and engineering technologies, the 2003–04 figures are lower than in 1993–94 (table 249 and figure 15). However, there is some evidence that these trends have shifted. Engineering and engineering technologies declined 8 percent between 1993–94 and 1998–99, but rose 8 percent between 1998–99 and 2003–04. The number of degrees conferred in 2003–04 is almost equal to the number conferred in 1993–94. The number of mathematics degrees declined by 16 percent between 1993–94 and 1998–99, but also rose 11 percent between 1998–99 and 2003–04. In contrast, some technical fields have increased. After an increase of 25 percent between 1993–94 and 1998–99, the number of degrees in computer and information sciences grew 95 percent between 1998–99 and 2003–04. The numbers in some science fields declined between 1998–99 and 2003–04. The number of degrees in biological/biomedical sciences declined 5 percent and the number of degrees in the physical sciences declined by 2 percent. Health professions and related clinical science degrees declined 13 percent in this period. Other sizable fields (over 5,000 degrees) with increases over 20 percent between 1998–99 and 2003–04 included parks, recreation, and leisure studies; communications and journalism; visual and performing arts; theological studies/religious vocations; business; philosophy and religion; liberal arts and sciences; and social sciences and history.
Fifty-eight percent of the students who enrolled in a 4-year college as first-time freshmen in 1995–96 had completed a bachelor’s degree by 2001 (table 310). About 7 percent of students had completed a certificate or associate’s degree, 14 percent were still enrolled without having received a degree, and 21 percent were no longer working towards a bachelor’s degree.
Finances
For the 2004–05 academic year, annual prices for undergraduate tuition, room, and board were estimated to be $9,877 at public colleges and $26,025 at private colleges (table 312). Between 1994–95 and 2004–05, prices for undergraduate tuition, room, and board at public colleges rose by 30 percent, and prices at private colleges increased by 26 percent, after adjustment for inflation (tables 31 and 312).
Trend data show small increases in the current-fund expenditures per student at public 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities in the late 1980s and larger increases during the 1990s (table 339). After an adjustment for inflation at colleges and universities, current fund expenditures per student at public colleges rose about 5 percent between 1985–86 and 1990–91, and another 28 percent between 1990–91 and 2000–01.
At private not-for-profit institutions, total expenditures per full-time-equivalent student rose 14 percent between 1996–97 and 2002–03, after adjustment for inflation (table 346). In 2002–03, total expenditures per full-time-equivalent student were $36,482.
1 Title IV programs, which are administered by the U.S. Department of Education, provide financial aid to post-secondary students.
2 Included among degree-granting institutions are some institutions (primarily 2-year colleges) that were not previously designated as higher education institutions. Excluded from degree-granting institutions are a few institutions that were previously designated as higher education institutions although they did not award an associate's or higher degree.