Table 311.33.

Selected statistics for degree-granting postsecondary institutions that primarily offer online programs, by control of institution and selected characteristics: Fall 2021 and 2020-21

Selected characteristic	All insti- tutions	Primarily online institutions1					Other institutions2
		Total	Percent of all insti- tutions	Public	Nonprofit	For-profit	Total	Public	Nonprofit	For-profit
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Number of institutions, fall 20213	3,893	175	4.5	25	81	69	3,718	1,556	1,544	618
Fall 2021 enrollment
Total enrollment	18,659,851	1,129,200	6.1	216,276	434,131	478,793	17,530,651	13,327,248	3,678,973	524,430
Full-time	11,330,271	578,565	5.1	61,431	258,390	258,744	10,751,706	7,544,139	2,838,286	369,281
Males	4,888,601	194,067	4.0	20,825	90,485	82,757	4,694,534	3,344,928	1,217,751	131,855
Females	6,441,670	384,498	6.0	40,606	167,905	175,987	6,057,172	4,199,211	1,620,535	237,426
Part-time	7,329,580	550,635	7.5	154,845	175,741	220,049	6,778,945	5,783,109	840,687	155,149
Males	2,880,875	197,564	6.9	59,127	68,146	70,291	2,683,311	2,331,881	314,925	36,505
Females	4,448,705	353,071	7.9	95,718	107,595	149,758	4,095,634	3,451,228	525,762	118,644
Undergraduate	15,448,420	824,678	5.3	184,688	309,308	330,682	14,623,742	11,759,945	2,417,046	446,751
Full-time	9,499,764	420,550	4.4	51,512	178,690	190,348	9,079,214	6,686,027	2,053,740	339,447
Part-time	5,948,656	404,128	6.8	133,176	130,618	140,334	5,544,528	5,073,918	363,306	107,304
Postbaccalaureate	3,211,431	304,522	9.5	31,588	124,823	148,111	2,906,909	1,567,303	1,261,927	77,679
Full-time	1,830,507	158,015	8.6	9,919	79,700	68,396	1,672,492	858,112	784,546	29,834
Part-time	1,380,924	146,507	10.6	21,669	45,123	79,715	1,234,417	709,191	477,381	47,845
American Indian/Alaska Native	121,082	12,458	10.3	4,429	3,993	4,036	108,624	88,665	14,634	5,325
Asian	1,353,489	42,127	3.1	10,351	15,615	16,161	1,311,362	995,974	284,207	31,181
Black	2,329,743	261,282	11.2	35,284	72,387	153,611	2,068,461	1,538,446	408,672	121,343
Hispanic	3,664,548	163,675	4.5	40,479	60,289	62,907	3,500,873	2,904,901	462,495	133,477
Pacific Islander	47,145	6,591	14.0	879	2,172	3,540	40,554	28,304	8,296	3,954
White	9,496,300	590,886	6.2	113,435	262,169	215,282	8,905,414	6,694,078	2,019,143	192,193
Two or more races	758,516	43,717	5.8	9,754	13,618	20,345	714,799	552,633	140,712	21,454
Nonresident alien4	889,028	8,464	1.0	1,665	3,888	2,911	880,564	524,247	340,814	15,503
4-year institutions	13,977,255	1,024,600	7.3	139,225	427,084	458,291	12,952,655	8,926,527	3,658,446	367,682
Full-time	9,687,036	532,294	5.5	40,744	252,063	239,487	9,154,742	6,112,918	2,822,031	219,793
Part-time	4,290,219	492,306	11.5	98,481	175,021	218,804	3,797,913	2,813,609	836,415	147,889
2-year institutions	4,682,596	104,600	2.2	77,051	7,047	20,502	4,577,996	4,400,721	20,527	156,748
Full-time	1,643,235	46,271	2.8	20,687	6,327	19,257	1,596,964	1,431,221	16,255	149,488
Part-time	3,039,361	58,329	1.9	56,364	720	1,245	2,981,032	2,969,500	4,272	7,260
Degrees conferred, 2020-21
Associate's	1,036,431	45,703	4.4	12,802	14,263	18,638	990,728	905,855	36,617	48,256
Males	383,029	16,878	4.4	5,289	3,408	8,181	366,151	337,299	13,179	15,673
Females	653,402	28,825	4.4	7,513	10,855	10,457	624,577	568,556	23,438	32,583
Bachelor's	2,066,445	134,088	6.5	18,441	56,716	58,931	1,932,357	1,366,796	522,451	43,110
Males	860,764	48,923	5.7	6,922	20,727	21,274	811,841	586,562	211,480	13,799
Females	1,205,681	85,165	7.1	11,519	35,989	37,657	1,120,516	780,234	310,971	29,311
Master's	866,894	100,023	11.5	9,926	45,154	44,943	766,871	395,283	346,081	25,507
Males	330,700	30,168	9.1	3,079	14,615	12,474	300,532	158,073	135,168	7,291
Females	536,194	69,855	13.0	6,847	30,539	32,469	466,339	237,210	210,913	18,216
Doctor's5	194,059	6,734	3.5	209	1,718	4,807	187,325	95,607	87,415	4,303
Males	85,367	1,941	2.3	50	526	1,365	83,426	43,580	38,331	1,515
Females	108,692	4,793	4.4	159	1,192	3,442	103,899	52,027	49,084	2,788
First-time students' graduation and    retention rates from first    institution attended
Among full-time bachelor's degree-    seekers starting at 4-year    institutions in 2015, percent    earning bachelor’s degree
Within 4 years after start	47.7	10.9	†	11.0	30.3	5.5	48.1	43.8	57.7	37.5
Within 5 years after start	61.4	16.2	†	20.1	37.0	10.1	61.9	59.9	66.9	41.8
Within 6 years after start	64.6	18.4	†	24.5	38.3	12.4	65.1	63.6	68.8	43.4
Among full-time degree/certificate-    seekers starting at 2-year    institutions in 2018, percent    completing credential within    150 percent of normal time	34.6	45.1	†	23.8	50.8	54.9	34.4	30.3	64.6	60.3
Among degree-seekers starting in    2020, percent returning in 2021
Full-time entrants	75.7	57.3	†	64.6	60.2	50.8	75.9	74.6	81.1	64.3
Part-time entrants	43.4	42.5	†	45.4	39.1	40.8	43.5	43.4	44.8	46.5

†Not applicable.

1Primarily online institutions have more than 90 percent of students enrolled in exclusively distance education courses in the fall term.

2Other institutions may offer distance education courses without being primarily online institutions.

3Includes only institutions reporting enrollment data in fall 2021.

4Race/ethnicity not collected.

5Includes Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level, as well as such degrees as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees that were classified as first-professional degrees prior to 2010-11.

NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Degree-granting institutions grant associate’s or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 2022, Fall Enrollment component; IPEDS, Fall 2021, Completions component; and IPEDS, Winter 2021-22, Graduation Rates component. (This table was prepared May 2023.)