There were approximately 18.58 million college students in the U.S. in 2022, with around 13.49 million enrolled in public colleges and a further 5.09 million students enrolled in private colleges. The figures are projected to remain relatively constant over the next few years.

What is the most expensive college in the U.S.? The overall number of higher education institutions in the U.S. totals around 4,000, and California is the state with the most. One important factor that students – and their parents – must consider before choosing a college is cost. With annual expenses totaling almost 78,000 U.S. dollars, Harvey Mudd College in California was the most expensive college for the 2021-2022 academic year. There are three major costs of college: tuition, room, and board. The difference in on-campus and off-campus accommodation costs is often negligible, but they can change greatly depending on the college town.

The differences between public and private colleges Public colleges, also called state colleges, are mostly funded by state governments. Private colleges, on the other hand, are not funded by the government but by private donors and endowments. Typically, private institutions are  much more expensive. Public colleges tend to offer different tuition fees for students based on whether they live in-state or out-of-state, while private colleges have the same tuition cost for every student.

In 2019, almost seven percent of people aged 18 to 44 years in the United States were hospitalized at least once. Unsurprisingly, hospitalization among people aged 65 years and older was higher at almost 17 percent.

Hospital Stays Hospitalization in the U.S. has decreased since 1997. In 2019, a total of 7.3 percent of people in the U.S. were hospitalized at least once. Hospitalization rates for females have been higher than males for the past two decades. In 2019, almost eight percent of females were hospitalized, compared to only five percent of males. The average length of stay in a hospital is currently 6.2 days. However, this varies greatly by state. In Wyoming, for example, the average length of stay is 9.2 days, which is more than twice the average length of stay New York.

Hospital Costs Community hospital expenses per inpatient stay in the United States have been constantly increasing. The average expenses for a community hospital per inpatient stay in 2019 was around 14,101 U.S. dollars. Expectedly, hospital care expenditure has also been increasing in the past two decades. In 2020, around 1.27 trillion U.S. dollars were spent on hospital care.