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 2022, about **** million male students were enrolled in degree-granting postsecondary institutions as undergraduates. This is compared to **** million female undergraduate students who were enrolled in that same year. By 2031, these figures are projected to increase to **** million and *** million respectively.

This layer was developed by the Research & Analytics Group of the Atlanta Regional Commission, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2013-2017, to show counts and percentages for school enrollment by education level by Regional Commission in the Atlanta region.

The user should note that American Community Survey data represent estimates derived from a surveyed sample of the population, which creates some level of uncertainty, as opposed to an exact measure of the entire population (the full census count is only conducted once every 10 years and does not cover as many detailed characteristics of the population). Therefore, any measure reported by ACS should not be taken as an exact number – this is why a corresponding margin of error (MOE) is also given for ACS measures. The size of the MOE relative to its corresponding estimate value provides an indication of confidence in the accuracy of each estimate. Each MOE is expressed in the same units as its corresponding measure; for example, if the estimate value is expressed as a number, then its MOE will also be a number; if the estimate value is expressed as a percent, then its MOE will also be a percent.

The user should also note that for relatively small geographic areas, such as census tracts shown here, ACS only releases combined 5-year estimates, meaning these estimates represent rolling averages of survey results that were collected over a 5-year span (in this case 2013-2017). Therefore, these data do not represent any one specific point in time or even one specific year. For geographic areas with larger populations, 3-year and 1-year estimates are also available.

For further explanation of ACS estimates and margin of error, visit Census ACS website.

Naming conventions:

Prefixes:

None

Count

p

Percent

r

Rate

m

Median

a

Mean (average)

t

Aggregate (total)

ch

Change in absolute terms (value in t2 - value in t1)

pch

Percent change ((value in t2 - value in t1) / value in t1)

chp

Change in percent (percent in t2 - percent in t1)

Suffixes:

None

Change over two periods

_e

Estimate from most recent ACS

_m

Margin of Error from most recent ACS

_00

Decennial 2000

Attributes:

SumLevel

Summary level of geographic unit (e.g., County, Tract, NSA, NPU, DSNI, SuperDistrict, etc)

GEOID

Census tract Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code

NAME

Name of geographic unit

Planning_Region

Planning region designation for ARC purposes

Acres

Total area within the tract (in acres)

SqMi

Total area within the tract (in square miles)

County

County identifier (combination of Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) codes for state and county)

CountyName

County Name

Pop3P_e

# Population ages 3 and over, 2017

Pop3P_m

# Population ages 3 and over, 2017 (MOE)

InSchool_e

# Population 3 years and over enrolled in school, 2017

InSchool_m

# Population 3 years and over enrolled in school, 2017 (MOE)

InPreSchool_e

# Enrolled in nursery school, preschool, 2017

InPreSchool_m

# Enrolled in nursery school, preschool, 2017 (MOE)

pInPreSchool_e

% Enrolled in nursery school, preschool, 2017

pInPreSchool_m

% Enrolled in nursery school, preschool, 2017 (MOE)

InKindergarten_e

# Enrolled in kindergarten, 2017

InKindergarten_m

# Enrolled in kindergarten, 2017 (MOE)

pInKindergarten_e

% Enrolled in kindergarten, 2017

pInKindergarten_m

% Enrolled in kindergarten, 2017 (MOE)

InElementary_e

# Enrolled in elementary school (grades 1-8), 2017

InElementary_m

# Enrolled in elementary school (grades 1-8), 2017 (MOE)

pInElementary_e

% Enrolled in elementary school (grades 1-8), 2017

pInElementary_m

% Enrolled in elementary school (grades 1-8), 2017 (MOE)

InHS_e

# Enrolled in high school (grades 9-12), 2017

InHS_m

# Enrolled in high school (grades 9-12), 2017 (MOE)

pInHS_e

% Enrolled in high school (grades 9-12), 2017

pInHS_m

% Enrolled in high school (grades 9-12), 2017 (MOE)

InCollegeGradSch_e

# Enrolled in college or graduate school, 2017

InCollegeGradSch_m

# Enrolled in college or graduate school, 2017 (MOE)

last_edited_date

Last date the feature was edited by ARC

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Atlanta Regional Commission

Date: 2013-2017

For additional information, please visit the Census ACS website.

The Educational Services sector comprises 13 subsectors of the US economy, ranging from public schools to testing and educational support services. Primary, secondary and postsecondary schools alone generate 92.0% of the sector's revenue. Most of these institutions rely entirely on government funding, and nearly three-quarters of the educational services revenue comes from public schools and public universities. Accordingly, strong federal, state and local support for all levels of education has driven revenue upward over the past five years. Expanding discretionary budgets made private schools and higher education more affordable for students and parents, but the Trump administration's changing policies have brought new complications. Still, substantial funding and skyrocketing investment returns for private nonprofit universities have elevated revenue. Revenue has climbed at a CAGR of 4.6% to an estimated $2.7 trillion through the end of 2025, when revenue will rise by 1.1%. Solid state and local government funding for education has helped support the sector's success despite fluctuating enrollment. Faltering birth rates are leading to lower headcounts in K-12 schools, and ballooning student debt has made many would-be college students skeptical of the return on investment of an expensive degree. While student loan forgiveness efforts slowed a decline in the number of college students, the new presidential administration's end to these efforts has begun to exacerbate price-based and quality-based competition among higher education institutions. President Trump's scrutiny of course curricula has made public funds harder to acquire for schools, and the administration's efforts to close the Department of Education have begun to deter would-be students from attending college. Trends in the domestic economy are set to move in the Educational Services sector's favor over the next five years as prospective students become better able to pay for rising tuition rates and premium education options. Government funding for primary, secondary and postsecondary institutions will continue to escalate through the next period, though lackluster enrollment will temper revenue growth. Public schools, which account for over half the sector's revenue, will continue to post losses and drag down the average profit for educational services. New school choice initiatives, including Texas's new, largest-ever voucher program, will make private schools more affordable for parents. However, heightened oversight and continued efforts to close the Department of Education will remain a significant pain point for many educational services. Overall, revenue is set to climb at a CAGR of 0.8% to $2.8 trillion through the end of 2030.

This dataset is accessed from https://www.kaggle.com/jessemostipak/college-tuition-diversity-and-pay and was downloaded on August 4, 2021.

The following excerpt is from Kaggle regarding the sources of this dataset:

The data this week comes from many different sources but originally came from the US Department of Education.

Tuition and fees by college/university for 2018-2019, along with school type, degree length, state, in-state vs out-of-state from the Chronicle of Higher Education. Diversity by college/university for 2014, along with school type, degree length, state, in-state vs out-of-state from the Chronicle of Higher Education. Example diversity graphics from Priceonomics. Average net cost by income bracket from TuitionTracker.org. Example price trend and graduation rates from TuitionTracker.org Salary potential data comes from payscale.com.

This dataset included the following files:

1. diversity_school.csv

2. historical_tuition.csv

3. salary_potential.csv

4. tuition_cost.csv

5. tuition_income.csv

After data cleaning, the data in diversity_school.csv and tuition_cost.csv were merged and the data in salary_potential.csv and tuition_income.csv were merged. The combined datasets were then split based on the US Census Regions into West, Midwest, Northeast and South (https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf).

In the academic year 2023/24, there were 331,602 international students from India studying in the United States. International students The majority of international students studying in the United States are originally from India and China, totaling 331,602 students and 277,398 students respectively in the 2023/24 school year. In 2022/23, there were 467,027 international graduate students , which accounted for over one third of the international students in the country. Typically, engineering and math & computer science programs were among the most common fields of study for these students. The United States is home to many world-renowned schools, most notably, the Ivy League Colleges which provide education that is sought after by both foreign and local students. International students and college Foreign students in the United States pay some of the highest fees in the United States, with an average of 24,914 U.S. dollars. American students attending a college in New England paid an average of 14,900 U.S. dollars for tuition alone and there were about 79,751 international students in Massachusetts . Among high-income families, U.S. students paid an average of 34,700 U.S. dollars for college, whereas the average for all U.S. families reached only 28,026 U.S. dollars. Typically, 40 percent of families paid for college tuition through parent income and savings, while 29 percent relied on grants and scholarships.

Supporting documentation on code lists, subject definitions, data accuracy, and statistical testing can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Data and Documentation section...Sample size and data quality measures (including coverage rates, allocation rates, and response rates) can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Methodology section..Although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, for 2010, the 2010 Census provides the official counts of the population and housing units for the nation, states, counties, cities and towns..Explanation of Symbols:.An ''**'' entry in the margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate..An ''-'' entry in the estimate column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution..An ''-'' following a median estimate means the median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution..An ''+'' following a median estimate means the median falls in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution..An ''***'' entry in the margin of error column indicates that the median falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate..An ''*****'' entry in the margin of error column indicates that the estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate. .An ''N'' entry in the estimate and margin of error columns indicates that data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small..An ''(X)'' means that the estimate is not applicable or not available..Estimates of urban and rural population, housing units, and characteristics reflect boundaries of urban areas defined based on Census 2000 data. Boundaries for urban areas have not been updated since Census 2000. As a result, data for urban and rural areas from the ACS do not necessarily reflect the results of ongoing urbanization..While the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) data generally reflect the December 2009 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) definitions of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas; in certain instances the names, codes, and boundaries of the principal cities shown in ACS tables may differ from the OMB definitions due to differences in the effective dates of the geographic entities..The category "Not enrolled in college or graduate school" includes those who were not enrolled in school as well as those who were enrolled in levels other than college or graduate school..Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables..Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey

This dataset explore the Residence and migration of all freshmen students in degree-granting institutions who graduated from high school in the previous 12 months, by state: Fall 2004 NOTE: Includes all first-time postsecondary students enrolled at reporting institutions. Degree-granting institutions grant associate's or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. (This table was prepared September 2005.) http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d06/tables/dt06_208.asp Accessed on 12 November 2007

Although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, it is the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program that produces and disseminates the official estimates of the population for the nation, states, counties, cities, and towns and estimates of housing units for states and counties..Supporting documentation on code lists, subject definitions, data accuracy, and statistical testing can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Technical Documentation section.Sample size and data quality measures (including coverage rates, allocation rates, and response rates) can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Methodology section..Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see ACS Technical Documentation). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables..The category "Not enrolled in college or graduate school" includes those who were not enrolled in school as well as those who were enrolled in levels other than college or graduate school..The 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) data generally reflect the March 2020 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delineations of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. In certain instances the names, codes, and boundaries of the principal cities shown in ACS tables may differ from the OMB delineations due to differences in the effective dates of the geographic entities..Estimates of urban and rural populations, housing units, and characteristics reflect boundaries of urban areas defined based on Census 2010 data. As a result, data for urban and rural areas from the ACS do not necessarily reflect the results of ongoing urbanization..Explanation of Symbols:- The estimate could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations. For a ratio of medians estimate, one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution. For a 5-year median estimate, the margin of error associated with a median was larger than the median itself.N The estimate or margin of error cannot be displayed because there were an insufficient number of sample cases in the selected geographic area. (X) The estimate or margin of error is not applicable or not available.median- The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "2,500-")median+ The median falls in the highest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "250,000+").** The margin of error could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations.*** The margin of error could not be computed because the median falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution.***** A margin of error is not appropriate because the corresponding estimate is controlled to an independent population or housing estimate. Effectively, the corresponding estimate has no sampling error and the margin of error may be treated as zero.

This dataset explores Full-time-equivalent (FTE) fall enrollment in degree-granting institutions, by control and state - Selected years, 1980 through 2005 NOTE: Data through 1990 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. (See Guide to Sources for details.) SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), "Fall Enrollment in Colleges and Universities" 1980 survey; and 1990 through 2005 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Fall Enrollment Survey" (IPEDS-EF:90), and Spring 2001 through Spring 2006. (This table was prepared August 2006.) http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d06/tables/dt06_206.asp Accessed on 12 November 2007

The Institutional Data Archive on American Higher Education (IDA) contains academic data on 384 four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The IDA is one of two databases produced by the Colleges and Universities 2000 project based at the University of California, Riverside. This release, the third compilation of the IDA, is updated through academic year 2010-2011, and includes longitudinal and cross-sectional data from multiple sources. The collection is organized into nine datasets based on the unit of analysis and whether identifiers linking the data to particular institutions are present; seven of the datasets can be linked by a common identifier variable (PROJ_ID), and two cannot be linked due to confidentiality agreements. The seven identifiable datasets contain information on institutions, university systems, programs and academic departments, earned degrees, graduate schools, medical schools, and institutional academic rankings over time. Data regarding student enrollments, average SAT and ACT scores, and tuition and fees has been recorded, as well as institutional information concerning libraries, research activity, revenue and expenditures, faculty salaries, and quality rankings for program faculty. The identifiable datasets also include census information for neighborhoods surrounding IDA colleges and universities. The two non-identifiable datasets contain confidential survey responses from IDA institution presidents, chancellors, provosts, and academic vice presidents; survey questions pertained to governance structures, institutional goals and achievements, and solicited opinions on current and future issues facing the respondent's institution and higher education in general.

The Recent College Graduates (RCG) survey estimates the potential supply of newly qualified teachers in the United States and explores the immediate post-degree employment and education experiences of individuals obtaining bachelor's or master's degrees from American colleges and universities. The RCG survey, which focuses heavily, but not exclusively, on those graduates qualified to teach at the elementary and secondary levels, is designed to meet the following objectives: (1) to determine how many graduates become eligible or qualified to teach for the first time and how many are employed as teachers in the year following graduation, by teaching field, (2) to examine the relationship between courses taken, student achievement, and occupational outcomes, and (3) to monitor unemployment rates and average salaries of graduates by field of study. The RCG survey collects information on education and employment of all graduates (date of graduation, field of study, whether newly qualified to teach, further enrollment, financial aid, employment status, and teacher employment characteristics), as well as standard demographic characteristics such as earnings, age, marital status, sex, and race/ethnicity.

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Median usual weekly nominal earnings (second quartile): Wage and salary workers: High School graduates, no college: 25 years and over: Women (LEU0252925300A) from 1979 to 2024 about no college, second quartile, secondary schooling, secondary, 25 years +, females, full-time, salaries, education, workers, earnings, wages, median, employment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Expenditures: Total Average Annual Expenditures by Highest Education: Less Than College Graduate: Less Than High School Graduate (CXUTOTALEXPLB1403M) from 2012 to 2023 about no college, secondary schooling, secondary, education, average, expenditures, and USA.

This dataset tracks annual distribution of students across grade levels in American International Academy School District and average distribution per school district in Michigan

Graph and download economic data for Expenditures: Total Average Annual Expenditures by Education: High School Graduate with Some College (CXUTOTALEXPLB1305M) from 1995 to 2012 about no college, secondary schooling, secondary, education, average, expenditures, and USA.

The Average Salary chart presents a clear visualization of the salary progression for graduates from American College of Healthcare and Technology from 2020 to 2023, illustrating the yearly average salary trends. Additionally, the chart compares these figures with the overall average salary trends of graduates from all schools, providing a comprehensive view of how American College of Healthcare and Technology’s graduates stand in terms of earning potential relative to their peers nationwide. This data is crucial for prospective students assessing the ROI of their education at American College of Healthcare and Technology.

This dataset tracks annual distribution of students across grade levels in American Preparatory Academy School District and average distribution per school district in Utah

This dataset tracks annual distribution of students across grade levels in American Academy Of Innovation School District and average distribution per school district in Utah

This dataset tracks annual distribution of students across grade levels in American River Collegiate Academy School District and average distribution per school district in California