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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 301.20. Historical summary of faculty, enrollment, degrees conferred, and finances in degree-granting postsecondary institutions: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2019-20
Selected characteristic 1869-70 1879-80 1889-90 1899-1900 1909-10 1919-20 1929-30 1939-40 1949-50 1959-60 1969-70 1979-80 1989-90 1999-2000 2009-10 2019-20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
  Number
Total institutions1  563   811   998   977   951   1,041   1,409   1,708   1,851   2,004   2,525   3,152   3,535   4,084   4,495   3,982  

Total faculty2 
5,553 3  11,522 3  15,809   23,868   36,480   48,615   82,386   146,929   246,722   380,554   450,000 4  675,000 4  824,220 5  1,027,830 5  1,439,074 5  1,548,824 5 
Males 4,887 3  7,328 3  12,704 3  19,151   29,132   35,807   60,017   106,328   186,189   296,773   346,000 4  479,000 4  534,254 5  602,469 5  761,002 5  768,404 5 
Females 666 3  4,194 3  3,105 3  4,717   7,348   12,808   22,369   40,601   60,533   83,781   104,000 4  196,000 4  289,966 5  425,361 5  678,072 5  780,420 5 

Total fall enrollment6 
52,286   115,817   156,756   237,592   355,213   597,880   1,100,737   1,494,203   2,444,900   3,639,847   8,004,660   11,569,899   13,538,560   14,791,224   20,313,594   19,630,178  
Males 41,160 3  77,972 3  100,453 3  152,254   214,648 3  314,938   619,935   893,250   1,721,572   2,332,617   4,746,201   5,682,877   6,190,015   6,490,646   8,732,953   8,363,889  
Females 11,126 3  37,845 3  56,303 3  85,338   140,565 3  282,942   480,802   600,953   723,328   1,307,230   3,258,459   5,887,022   7,348,545   8,300,578   11,580,641   11,266,289  

Degrees conferred
                                                               
Associate's, total ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   206,023   400,910   455,102   564,933   848,856   1,018,233  
Males ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   117,432   183,737   191,195   224,721   322,747   393,079  
Females ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   88,591   217,173   263,907   340,212   526,109   625,154  

   Bachelor's, total7 
9,371   12,896   15,539   27,410   37,199   48,622   122,484   186,500   432,058   392,440   792,316   929,417   1,051,344   1,237,875   1,649,919   2,038,431  
Males 7,993   10,411   12,857   22,173   28,762   31,980   73,615   109,546   328,841   254,063   451,097   473,611   491,696   530,367   706,660   861,263  
Females 1,378   2,485   2,682   5,237   8,437   16,642   48,869   76,954   103,217   138,377   341,219   455,806   559,648   707,508   943,259   1,177,168  

   Master's, total8 
---   879   1,015   1,583   2,113   4,279   14,969   26,731   58,183   74,435   213,589   305,196   330,152   463,185   693,313   843,449  
Males ---   868   821   1,280   1,555   2,985   8,925   16,508   41,220   50,898   130,799   156,882   158,052   196,129   275,317   325,664  
Females ---   11   194   303   558   1,294   6,044   10,223   16,963   23,537   82,790   148,314   172,100   267,056   417,996   517,785  

   Doctor's, total9 
1   54   149   382   443   615   2,299   3,290   6,420   9,829   59,486   95,631   103,508   118,736   158,590   190,178  
Males 1   51   147   359   399   522   1,946   2,861   5,804   8,801   53,792   69,526   63,963   64,930   76,610   85,225  
Females 0   3   2   23   44   93   353   429   616   1,028   5,694   26,105   39,545   53,806   81,980   104,953  
  In thousands of current dollars
Finances                                                                
Revenue10  ---   ---   ---   ---   $76,883   $199,922   $554,511   $715,211   $2,374,645   $5,785,537   $21,515,242   $58,519,982   $139,635,477   $282,261,456   $496,719,503   $679,476,941  
Educational and general
   income11 
---   ---   $21,464   $35,084   67,917   172,929   483,065   571,288   1,833,845   4,688,352   16,486,177   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---  
Expenditures12  ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   507,142   674,688   2,245,661   5,601,376   21,043,113   56,913,588   134,655,571   237,727,015   446,478,723   655,729,798  
Value of physical property ---   ---   95,426   253,599   457,594   747,333   2,065,049   2,753,780 13  4,799,964   13,548,548   42,093,580   83,733,387   164,635,000   ---   ---   ---  
Market value of endowment
   funds
---   ---   78,788 14  194,998 14  323,661 14  569,071 14  1,372,068 14  1,686,283 14  2,601,223 14  5,322,080 14  11,206,632   20,743,045   67,978,726   ---   355,910,203   691,019,781  
  In thousands of constant 2020-21 dollars15 
Finances                                                                
Revenue10  ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   $8,524,866   $13,467,513   $26,385,602   $51,814,650   $149,881,071   $198,363,992   $289,389,371   $438,753,068   $603,097,026   $695,117,353  
Educational and general
   income11 
---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   7,426,479   10,757,425   20,376,563   41,988,378   114,847,226   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---  
Expenditures12  ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   7,796,631   12,704,460   24,952,410   50,165,323   146,592,091   192,918,831   279,068,700   369,527,808   542,096,673   670,823,590  
Value of physical property ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   31,747,369   51,854,022 13  53,334,262   121,339,344   293,235,412   283,829,358   341,199,960   ---   ---   ---  
Market value of endowment
   funds
---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---   21,093,712 14  31,752,920 14  28,903,198 14  47,663,978 14  78,068,469   70,312,277   140,883,400   ---   432,131,986   706,925,889  
---Not available.
1 Prior to 1979-80, excludes branch campuses.
2 Total number of different individuals (not reduced to full-time equivalent). Beginning in 1959-60, data are for the first term of the academic year.
3 Estimated.
4 Estimated number of senior instructional staff based on actual enrollment data for the designated year and enrollment/staff ratios for the prior staff survey. Excludes graduate assistants.
5 Because of revised survey procedures, data may not be directly comparable with figures prior to 1989-90. Excludes graduate assistants.
6 Data for 1869-70 to 1939-40 are for resident degree-credit students who enrolled at any time during the academic year.
7 From 1869-70 to 1959-60, bachelor's degrees include degrees that were classified as first-professional prior to 2010-11, such as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees.
8 Figures for years prior to 1969-70 are not precisely comparable with later data.
9 Includes Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level. Includes most degrees that were classified as first-professional prior to 2010-11, such as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees.
10 Data for 1929-30 through 1989-90 are current-fund revenues only. Data for 1999-2000 include total revenues for private institutions and current-fund revenues for public institutions. Data for later years are for total revenues.
11 Includes revenues from student tuition payments, government appropriations, endowment income, private gifts, sponsored research funds, and other separately budgeted research and sponsored programs.
12 Data for 1929-30 and 1939-40 include current-fund expenditures and additions to plant value. Data for 1949-50 through 1989-90 are current-fund expenditures only. Data for 1999-2000 include total expenditures for private institutions and current-fund expenditures for public institutions. Data for later years are for total expenditures.
13 Includes unexpended plant funds.
14 Book value. Includes other nonexpendable funds.
15 Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data through 1989-90 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. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Biennial Survey of Education in the United States; Education Directory, Colleges and Universities; Faculty and Other Professional Staff in Institutions of Higher Education; Fall Enrollment in Colleges and Universities; Earned Degrees Conferred; Financial Statistics of Institutions of Higher Education; Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), "Fall Enrollment in Institutions of Higher Education," "Degrees and Other Formal Awards Conferred," and "Financial Statistics of Institutions of Higher Education" surveys; Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Fall Enrollment Survey" (IPEDS-EF:89-99), "Fall Staff Survey" (IPEDS-S:89-99), "Finance Survey" (IPEDS-F:FY90-00), "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:90-00), and "Institutional Characteristics Survey" (IPEDS-IC:89-99); IPEDS Winter 2009-10 and Spring 2020, Human Resources component, Fall Staff section; IPEDS Spring 2010 and Spring 2020, Fall Enrollment component; IPEDS Fall 2010 and Fall 2020, Completions component; and IPEDS Spring 2011 and Spring 2021, Finance component. (This table was prepared March 2022.)

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