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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 307.10. Full-time-equivalent fall enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by control and level of institution: 1967 through 2030
Year All institutions Public institutions Private institutions
Total 4-year 2-year Total 4-year 2-year Total 4-year 2-year
Total Nonprofit For-profit Total Nonprofit For-profit
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1967 5,499,360 4,448,302 1,051,058 3,777,701 2,850,432 927,269 1,721,659 1,597,870 --- --- 123,789   --- ---
1968 5,977,768 4,729,522 1,248,246 4,248,639 3,128,057 1,120,582 1,729,129 1,601,465 --- --- 127,664   --- ---
1969 6,333,357 4,899,034 1,434,323 4,577,353 3,259,323 1,318,030 1,756,004 1,639,711 --- --- 116,293   --- ---

1970
6,737,819 5,145,422 1,592,397 4,953,144 3,468,569 1,484,575 1,784,675 1,676,853 --- --- 107,822   --- ---
1971 7,148,558 5,357,647 1,790,911 5,344,402 3,660,626 1,683,776 1,804,156 1,697,021 --- --- 107,135   --- ---
1972 7,253,757 5,406,833 1,846,924 5,452,854 3,706,238 1,746,616 1,800,903 1,700,595 --- --- 100,308   --- ---
1973 7,453,463 5,439,230 2,014,233 5,629,563 3,721,037 1,908,526 1,823,900 1,718,193 --- --- 105,707   --- ---
1974 7,805,452 5,606,247 2,199,205 5,944,799 3,847,543 2,097,256 1,860,653 1,758,704 --- --- 101,949   --- ---

1975
8,479,698 5,900,408 2,579,290 6,522,319 4,056,502 2,465,817 1,957,379 1,843,906 --- --- 113,473   --- ---
1976 8,312,502 5,848,001 2,464,501 6,349,903 3,998,450 2,351,453 1,962,599 1,849,551 --- --- 113,048   --- ---
1977 8,415,339 5,935,076 2,480,263 6,396,476 4,039,071 2,357,405 2,018,863 1,896,005 --- --- 122,858   --- ---
1978 8,348,482 5,932,357 2,416,125 6,279,199 3,996,126 2,283,073 2,069,283 1,936,231 --- --- 133,052   --- ---
1979 8,487,317 6,016,072 2,471,245 6,392,617 4,059,304 2,333,313 2,094,700 1,956,768 --- --- 137,932   --- ---

1980
8,819,013 6,161,372 2,657,641 6,642,294 4,158,267 2,484,027 2,176,719 2,003,105 --- --- 173,614 1 --- ---
1981 9,014,521 6,249,847 2,764,674 6,781,300 4,208,506 2,572,794 2,233,221 2,041,341 --- --- 191,880 1 --- ---
1982 9,091,648 6,248,923 2,842,725 6,850,589 4,220,648 2,629,941 2,241,059 2,028,275 --- --- 212,784 1 --- ---
1983 9,166,398 6,325,222 2,841,176 6,881,479 4,265,807 2,615,672 2,284,919 2,059,415 --- --- 225,504   --- ---
1984 8,951,695 6,292,711 2,658,984 6,684,664 4,237,895 2,446,769 2,267,031 2,054,816 --- --- 212,215   --- ---

1985
8,943,433 6,294,339 2,649,094 6,667,781 4,239,622 2,428,159 2,275,652 2,054,717 --- --- 220,935   --- ---
1986 9,064,165 6,360,325 2,703,842 6,778,045 4,295,494 2,482,551 2,286,122 2,064,831 --- --- 221,291 2 --- ---
1987 9,229,736 6,486,504 2,743,230 6,937,690 4,395,728 2,541,961 2,292,045 2,090,776 --- --- 201,269 2 --- ---
1988 9,464,271 6,664,146 2,800,125 7,096,905 4,505,774 2,591,131 2,367,366 2,158,372 --- --- 208,994   --- ---
1989 9,780,881 6,813,602 2,967,279 7,371,590 4,619,828 2,751,762 2,409,291 2,193,774 --- --- 215,517   --- ---

1990
9,983,436 6,968,008 3,015,428 7,557,982 4,740,049 2,817,933 2,425,454 2,227,959 2,177,668 50,291 197,495   72,785 124,710
1991 10,360,606 7,081,454 3,279,152 7,862,845 4,795,704 3,067,141 2,497,761 2,285,750 2,223,463 62,287 212,011   72,545 139,466
1992 10,436,776 7,129,379 3,307,397 7,911,701 4,797,884 3,113,817 2,525,075 2,331,495 2,267,373 64,122 193,580   66,647 126,933
1993 10,351,415 7,120,921 3,230,494 7,812,394 4,765,983 3,046,411 2,539,021 2,354,938 2,282,643 72,295 184,083   70,469 113,614
1994 10,348,072 7,137,341 3,210,731 7,784,396 4,749,524 3,034,872 2,563,676 2,387,817 2,301,063 86,754 175,859   69,578 106,281

1995
10,334,956 7,172,844 3,162,112 7,751,815 4,757,223 2,994,592 2,583,141 2,415,621 2,328,730 86,891 167,520   62,416 105,104
1996 10,481,886 7,234,541 3,247,345 7,794,895 4,767,117 3,027,778 2,686,991 2,467,424 2,353,561 113,863 219,567   63,954 155,613
1997 10,615,028 7,338,794 3,276,234 7,869,764 4,813,849 3,055,915 2,745,264 2,524,945 2,389,627 135,318 220,319   61,761 158,558
1998 10,698,775 7,467,828 3,230,947 7,880,135 4,868,857 3,011,278 2,818,640 2,598,971 2,436,188 162,783 219,669   56,834 162,835
1999 10,974,519 7,634,247 3,340,272 8,059,240 4,949,851 3,109,389 2,915,279 2,684,396 2,488,140 196,256 230,883   53,956 176,927

2000
11,267,025 7,795,139 3,471,886 8,266,932 5,025,588 3,241,344 3,000,093 2,769,551 2,549,676 219,875 230,542   51,503 179,039
2001 11,765,945 8,087,980 3,677,965 8,639,154 5,194,035 3,445,119 3,126,791 2,893,945 2,612,833 281,112 232,846   41,037 191,809
2002 12,331,319 8,439,064 3,892,255 9,061,411 5,406,283 3,655,128 3,269,908 3,032,781 2,699,702 333,079 237,127   40,110 197,017
2003 12,687,597 8,744,188 3,943,409 9,240,724 5,557,680 3,683,044 3,446,873 3,186,508 2,776,850 409,658 260,365   36,815 223,550
2004 13,000,994 9,018,024 3,982,970 9,348,081 5,640,650 3,707,431 3,652,913 3,377,374 2,837,251 540,123 275,539   34,202 241,337

2005
13,200,790 9,261,634 3,939,156 9,390,216 5,728,327 3,661,889 3,810,574 3,533,307 2,878,354 654,953 277,267   34,729 242,538
2006 13,401,696 9,456,480 3,945,216 9,502,028 5,824,962 3,677,066 3,899,668 3,631,518 2,936,261 695,257 268,150   31,203 236,947
2007 13,786,735 9,768,388 4,018,347 9,744,001 5,992,611 3,751,390 4,042,734 3,775,777 2,993,901 781,876 266,957   26,140 240,817
2008 14,377,990 10,153,074 4,224,916 10,061,076 6,138,686 3,922,390 4,316,914 4,014,388 3,058,910 955,478 302,526   28,072 274,454
2009 15,379,473 10,695,816 4,683,657 10,746,637 6,452,414 4,294,223 4,632,836 4,243,402 3,153,294 1,090,108 389,434   27,964 361,470

2010
15,947,474 11,129,239 4,818,235 11,018,756 6,635,799 4,382,957 4,928,718 4,493,440 3,235,149 1,258,291 435,278   26,920 408,358
2011 15,892,792 11,261,845 4,630,947 10,954,754 6,734,116 4,220,638 4,938,038 4,527,729 3,285,711 1,242,018 410,309   34,267 376,042
2012 15,593,434 11,229,774 4,363,660 10,781,798 6,764,184 4,017,614 4,811,636 4,465,590 3,309,242 1,156,348 346,046   32,684 313,362
2013 15,410,058 11,183,239 4,226,819 10,697,939 6,790,930 3,907,009 4,712,119 4,392,309 3,337,799 1,054,510 319,810   27,313 292,497
2014 15,263,179 11,238,618 4,024,561 10,624,163 6,891,984 3,732,179 4,639,016 4,346,634 3,363,101 983,533 292,382   25,808 266,574

2015
15,078,504 11,226,353 3,852,151 10,569,574 6,970,121 3,599,453 4,508,930 4,256,232 3,399,283 856,949 252,698   41,579 211,119
2016 14,937,939 11,356,540 3,581,399 10,572,028 7,221,134 3,350,894 4,365,911 4,135,406 3,410,337 725,069 230,505   43,900 186,605
2017 14,883,617 11,404,002 3,479,615 10,568,658 7,309,343 3,259,315 4,314,959 4,094,659 3,435,813 658,846 220,300   43,992 176,308
2018 14,786,090 11,451,124 3,334,966 10,524,813 7,376,540 3,148,273 4,261,277 4,074,584 3,473,556 601,028 186,693   40,892 145,801
2019 14,762,177 11,526,240 3,235,937 10,487,368 7,432,735 3,054,633 4,274,809 4,093,505 3,486,978 606,527 181,304   29,970 151,334

2020
14,316,027 11,463,390 2,852,637 10,062,819 7,412,751 2,650,068 4,253,208 4,050,639 3,441,613 609,026 202,569   28,758 173,811
20213 15,292,000 11,949,000 3,344,000 10,828,000 7,682,000 3,146,000 4,464,000 4,267,000 --- --- 198,000   --- ---
20223 15,050,000 11,747,000 3,303,000 10,666,000 7,558,000 3,108,000 4,384,000 4,189,000 --- --- 195,000   --- ---
20233 14,898,000 11,618,000 3,280,000 10,567,000 7,481,000 3,087,000 4,331,000 4,137,000 --- --- 193,000   --- ---
20243 14,902,000 11,618,000 3,284,000 10,574,000 7,484,000 3,091,000 4,328,000 4,134,000 --- --- 194,000   --- ---

20253
14,966,000 11,668,000 3,297,000 10,619,000 7,517,000 3,103,000 4,346,000 4,152,000 --- --- 195,000   --- ---
20263 15,062,000 11,746,000 3,316,000 10,686,000 7,565,000 3,120,000 4,376,000 4,181,000 --- --- 196,000   --- ---
20273 15,142,000 11,812,000 3,329,000 10,738,000 7,605,000 3,133,000 4,404,000 4,207,000 --- --- 196,000   --- ---
20283 15,221,000 11,879,000 3,343,000 10,790,000 7,644,000 3,146,000 4,431,000 4,234,000 --- --- 197,000   --- ---
20293 15,300,000 11,939,000 3,361,000 10,842,000 7,679,000 3,163,000 4,458,000 4,259,000 --- --- 198,000   --- ---
20303 15,359,000 11,983,000 3,376,000 10,881,000 7,704,000 3,177,000 4,478,000 4,279,000 --- --- 199,000   --- ---
---Not available.
1 Large increases are due to the addition of schools accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology.
2 Because of imputation techniques, data are not consistent with figures for other years.
3 Projected.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Full-time-equivalent enrollment is the number of full-time students enrolled, plus the full-time equivalent of the part-time students. For more information, see "Calculation of FTE students (using fall student headcounts)" in the IPEDS Glossary (https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/public/glossary). Data through 1995 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. Projections in this table were calculated after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and take into account the expected impacts of the pandemic. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), "Fall Enrollment in Colleges and Universities" surveys, 1967 through 1985; Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Fall Enrollment Survey" (IPEDS-EF:86-99); IPEDS Spring 2001 through Spring 2021, Fall Enrollment component; and Enrollment in Degree-Granting Institutions Projection Model, through 2030. (This table was prepared December 2021.)

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