In 2021, the state of California spent ***** billion U.S. dollars on higher education via state and local governments. In that same year, Texas' state and local governments spent ** billion U.S. dollars on higher education.

The Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey is the primary source of information on R&D expenditures at U.S. colleges and universities. The survey collects information on R&D expenditures by field of research and source of funds and also gathers information on types of research, expenses, and R&D personnel. The survey is an annual census of institutions that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted for R&D in the fiscal year. This dataset includes HERD assets for 2021.

In the 2021/22 academic year, about 4.1 million higher education degrees were earned in the United States. By the 2031/32 academic year, this figure is projected to increase to about 4.83 million degrees.

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 2021, about **** percent of all women who had completed high school or completed a GED in the United States during the calendar year enrolled in a 2-year college afterwards. This is compared to **** percent of all men who did the same.

Overall educational attainment measures the highest level of education attained by a given individual: for example, an individual counted in the percentage of the measured population with a master’s or professional degree can be assumed to also have a bachelor’s degree and a high school diploma, but they are not counted in the population percentages for those two categories. Overall educational attainment is the broadest education indicator available, providing information about the measured county population as a whole.

Only members of the population aged 25 and older are included in these educational attainment estimates, sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS).

Champaign County has high educational attainment: over 48 percent of the county's population aged 25 or older has a bachelor's degree or graduate or professional degree as their highest level of education. In comparison, the percentage of the population aged 25 or older in the United States and Illinois with a bachelor's degree in 2023 was 21.8% (+/-0.1) and 22.8% (+/-0.2), respectively. The population aged 25 or older in the U.S. and Illinois with a graduate or professional degree in 2022, respectively, was 14.3% (+/-0.1) and 15.5% (+/-0.2).

Educational attainment data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, which are released annually.

As with any datasets that are estimates rather than exact counts, it is important to take into account the margins of error (listed in the column beside each figure) when drawing conclusions from the data.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of providing the standard 1-year data products, the Census Bureau released experimental estimates from the 1-year data in 2020. This includes a limited number of data tables for the nation, states, and the District of Columbia. The Census Bureau states that the 2020 ACS 1-year experimental tables use an experimental estimation methodology and should not be compared with other ACS data. For these reasons, and because data is not available for Champaign County, no data for 2020 is included in this Indicator.

For interested data users, the 2020 ACS 1-Year Experimental data release includes a dataset on Educational Attainment for the Population 25 Years and Over.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (16 October 2024).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (29 September 2023).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (6 October 2022).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (4 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (4 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018). U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (19 September 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2007 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2006 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2005 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1501; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).

During a 2021 survey of CMOs from higher education institutions in the United States it was found that the largest share of their marketing budgets that year was devoted to labor, at ** percent. Traditional advertising accounted for *** percent of higher ed marketing budgets at that time.

Directory of Department of Education High Schools in 2021.

In 2020, there were 3,931 higher education institutions across the United States. This was a decrease from 2015, when there were 4,583 higher education institutions across the nation.

Higher education in the U.S.

Higher education in the United States refers to colleges and universities in the country. The U.S. has some notable distinctions in regards to higher education when compared to the rest of the world, including NCAA sports, Greek life, and high attendance costs. However, a large majority of the world’s best universities are located in the United States. Some of these universities include the eight Ivy League schools, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University.

Higher education costs

The cost of university in the United States has increased significantly over the last few decades. As a result of these high tuition costs, it has caused students to take out exorbitantly high student loans. Both federal and state governments have decreased the amount of funding towards public schools, but mandatory outlays for higher education are expected to increase over the next several years. In 2021, California had the highest amount of higher education expenditures by state and local governments. California also has the most higher education institutions in the country.

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The online higher education market share in the US is expected to increase by USD 33.35 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market’s growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 19.82%.

This online higher education market in the US research report provides valuable insights on the post COVID-19 impact on the market, which will help companies evaluate their business approaches. Furthermore, this report extensively covers online higher education market in the US segmentation by subjects (commerce and management, STEM, Arts, and others) and courses (non-degree courses and degree courses). The online higher education market in the US report also offers information on several market vendors, including American Public Education Inc., Adtalem Global Education Inc., Apollo Education Group Inc., Graham Holdings Co., Grand Canyon Education Inc., ITT Educational Services Inc., LINCOLN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES Corp., Perdoceo Education Corp., Strategic Education Inc., and Zovio Inc. among others.

What will the Online Higher Education Market Size in the US be During the Forecast Period?

Download the Free Report Sample to Unlock the Online Higher Education Market Size in the US for the Forecast Period and Other Important Statistics

Online Higher Education Market in the US: Key Drivers, Trends, and Challenges

The collaborations between enterprises and educational institutions is notably driving the online higher education market growth in the US, although factors such as designing e-learning courses may impede the market growth. Our research analysts have studied the historical data and deduced the key market drivers and the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the online higher education industry in the US. The holistic analysis of the drivers will help in deducing end goals and refining marketing strategies to gain a competitive edge.

Key Online Higher Education Market Driver in the US

The collaborations between enterprises and educational institutions is one of the key drivers supporting the online higher education market growth in the US. Although such collaborations can take numerous forms, the most common are training, partnerships, or R&D partnerships. For instance, IBM-Charlotte was designed by the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte) and IBM with the aim of enhancing the university’s technical vitality, expanding its local personnel resource bank, and ultimately offering IBM's technical communicators a way of earning degrees in their field of work. For UNC-Charlotte, the relationship with IBM gave its developing Technical Communication program community support and visibility and simultaneously provided faculty with research opportunities and practical experience at the workplace. Such collaborations are driving the growth of the online higher education market in the US during the forecast period.

Key Online Higher Education Market Trend in the US

Increased use of wearable gadgets is another factor supporting the online higher education market growth in the US. Technologies such as augmented reality (AR) are also changing the learning experience of participants. 3D simulations and scenarios that are developed using wearable technology devices give users a chance to learn in different learning environments. Moreover, the theoretical explanation of various concepts and step-by-step training on operations in an organization, followed by familiarizing students with on-the-floor working environments, are time-consuming. Therefore, wearable technology devices can help universities or educational institutions to engage with students directly on the floor. This reduces the duration and makes students more comfortable with online learning. Thus, the affordable prices of wearable gadgets will foster their greater adoption, in turn fostering the growth of the online higher education market in the US

Key Online Higher Education Market Challenge in the US

Designing e-learning courses is one of the factors hindering the online higher education market growth in the US. A significant amount of time, money, and resources are needed for developing the content for online courses. On average, moderately interactive online content takes about 90-240 hours to develop and costs developers approximately $10,000 per produced hour for moderate-level content. Similarly, the cost keeps rising as the complexity of the content increases. The major factors impacting the cost incurred on creating online education content are the resources needed, the state of the source content, the elements embedded in the online content, and the interactivity and instructional complexities involved. Therefore, this is a challenging factor for the growth of the online higher education market in the US.

This online higher education market in the US analysis report also provides detailed information on other upcoming trends and challenges that will have a far-reaching effect on the market

Report on Demographic Data in New York City Public Schools, 2020-21Enrollment counts are based on the November 13 Audited Register for 2020. Categories with total enrollment values of zero were omitted. Pre-K data includes students in 3-K. Data on students with disabilities, English language learners, and student poverty status are as of March 19, 2021. Due to missing demographic information in rare cases and suppression rules, demographic categories do not always add up to total enrollment and/or citywide totals. NYC DOE "Eligible for free or reduced-price lunch” counts are based on the number of students with families who have qualified for free or reduced-price lunch or are eligible for Human Resources Administration (HRA) benefits. English Language Arts and Math state assessment results for students in grade 9 are not available for inclusion in this report, as the spring 2020 exams did not take place. Spring 2021 ELA and Math test results are not included in this report for K-8 students in 2020-21. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s complete transformation of New York City’s school system during the 2020-21 school year, and in accordance with New York State guidance, the 2021 ELA and Math assessments were optional for students to take. As a result, 21.6% of students in grades 3-8 took the English assessment in 2021 and 20.5% of students in grades 3-8 took the Math assessment. These participation rates are not representative of New York City students and schools and are not comparable to prior years, so results are not included in this report. Dual Language enrollment includes English Language Learners and non-English Language Learners. Dual Language data are based on data from STARS; as a result, school participation and student enrollment in Dual Language programs may differ from the data in this report. STARS course scheduling and grade management software applications provide a dynamic internal data system for school use; while standard course codes exist, data are not always consistent from school to school. This report does not include enrollment at District 75 & 79 programs. Students enrolled at Young Adult Borough Centers are represented in the 9-12 District data but not the 9-12 School data. “Prior Year” data included in Comparison tabs refers to data from 2019-20. “Year-to-Year Change” data included in Comparison tabs indicates whether the demographics of a school or special program have grown more or less similar to its district or attendance zone (or school, for special programs) since 2019-20. Year-to-year changes must have been at least 1 percentage point to qualify as “More Similar” or “Less Similar”; changes less than 1 percentage point are categorized as “No Change”. The admissions method tab contains information on the admissions methods used for elementary, middle, and high school programs during the Fall 2020 admissions process. Fall 2020 selection criteria are included for all programs with academic screens, including middle and high school programs. Selection criteria data is based on school-reported information. Fall 2020 Diversity in Admissions priorities is included for applicable middle and high school programs. Note that the data on each school’s demographics and performance includes all students of the given subgroup who were enrolled in the school on November 13, 2020. Some of these students may not have been admitted under the admissions method(s) shown, as some students may have enrolled in the school outside the centralized admissions process (via waitlist, over-the-counter, or transfer), and schools may have changed admissions methods over the past few years. Admissions methods are only reported for grades K-12. "3K and Pre-Kindergarten data are reported at the site level. See below for definitions of site types included in this report. Additionally, please note that this report excludes all students at District 75 sites, reflecting slightly lower enrollment than our total of 60,265 students

Contains data files (.csv format) related to compensation, salaries, diversity, and student academic performance at American colleges and universities. Data is from 2008-2023, with data primarily from 2018-2021. Each file has a related data dictionary in a .txt file.

The National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) provides data on the characteristics of the nation’s college graduates, with a focus on those in the science and engineering workforce. It samples individuals who are living in the United States during the survey reference week, have at least a bachelor’s degree, and are younger than 76. By surveying college graduates in all academic disciplines, the NSCG provides data useful in understanding the relationship between college education and career opportunities, as well as the relationship between degree field and occupation. The survey is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the U.S. National Science Foundation.

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 877,240 associate degrees were awarded by community colleges in the United States. In the same year, 592,863 certificates were awarded by community colleges in the United States.

This dataset includes the attendance rate for public school students PK-12 by student group and by district during the 2020-2021 school year. Student groups include: Students experiencing homelessness Students with disabilities Students who qualify for free/reduced lunch English learners All high needs students Non-high needs students Students by race/ethnicity (Hispanic/Latino of any race, Black or African American, White, All other races) Attendance rates are provided for each student group by district and for the state. Students who are considered high needs include students who are English language learners, who receive special education, or who qualify for free and reduced lunch. When no attendance data is displayed in a cell, data have been suppressed to safeguard student confidentiality, or to ensure that statistics based on a very small sample size are not interpreted as equally representative as those based on a sufficiently larger sample size. For more information on CSDE data suppression policies, please visit http://edsight.ct.gov/relatedreports/BDCRE%20Data%20Suppression%20Rules.pdf.

Endowment returns for many universities skyrocketed early in the current period, largely fueled by booming private equity and hedge fund activity. In 2021, private nonprofit universities saw a staggering 684.0% jump in investment returns. In contrast, public universities, which typically hold smaller endowments invested more in US equities and fixed-income assets, experienced more modest gains. Meanwhile, inflation and rising interest rates in 2022 reversed the boom for private nonprofits, while public universities' endowments' focus on fixed-income assets stabilized their returns. Skyrocketing investment returns bolstered surpluses, but rising wage expenditures among expanding staff sizes have since brought down profit. Revenue has been sinking at a CAGR of 1.3% over the five years through 2025 to an estimated $591.1 billion despite an expected 0.7% rise in 2025 alone. Colleges and universities are contending with sluggish enrollment growth. Lackluster job placement rates and the highly publicized student debt crisis have made many potential students skeptical of a college degree's return on investment. With judicial reviews rendering the Biden administration's efforts to ease the burden of student debt unsuccessful, student loans remain a major deterrent for consumers. Many have instead opted for cheaper trade schools with reliable connections to employers. Community colleges' affordable prices are also making them a larger competitive threat to four-year universities. In response, universities are hiring capable staff and ramping up marketing campaigns to promote the value of their degree programs. Mounting automation will encourage many to enroll in a university to switch to a new field with more job security. Student loans will become more attractive as inflation stabilizes and the Federal Reserve continues to lower interest rates, encouraging traditional university enrollment. Still, the Trump administration's end to student debt forgiveness initiatives will lead to more price sensitivity among potential students, intensifying competition both between universities and with other cheaper options for postsecondary education. The new budget reconciliation bill will also impose both benefits and challenges for universities, including higher taxes on endowments, lower graduate program borrowing limits and tightened gainful employment rules. International students will remain a valuable revenue stream, especially as legislative changes in Canada promote higher education in the US with students from overseas. Revenue is set to swell at a CAGR of 0.7% to an estimated $610.8 billion through the end of 2030.

In 2021, the District of Columbia had the most highly educated population in the United States, with 35.9 percent of the population over the age of 25 having an advanced degree. Massachusetts had the next most educated population, with 20.4 percent of residents having an advanced degree. For the United States as a whole, this figure stood at 13.1 percent of the population.

An advanced degree includes graduate and professional degrees.

This dataset contains data on the number of students participating in designated Early College programs since school year 2020-21. Early College is a program that designates partnerships between high schools and colleges to support high school students to complete college courses. The list of designated partnerships is available here.

Students are counted in this dataset if they are marked as an Early College student by the district. The district also submits each student's affiliation with a single institution of higher education (IHE), though some Early College students take credits at more than one IHE. The period column allows you to filter for Fall or Spring, or to see the full-year deduplicated count of participants.

The dataset is updated after each semester, when the SIMS collection for that semester is certified.

The data here are the same as the participation data in the Early College Dashboard.

Data note: For the Fall 2021 collection, only 2 digits of the college code were stored, so college names could not be loaded. The incomplete 2-digit codes are shown in this dataset, but the college name field is blank for that collection.

United States US: GERD Financed: Higher Education and PNP Sectors data was reported at 4.980 % in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5.339 % for 2021. United States US: GERD Financed: Higher Education and PNP Sectors data is updated yearly, averaging 4.998 % from Dec 1981 (Median) to 2022, with 42 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.119 % in 2015 and a record low of 2.784 % in 1981. United States US: GERD Financed: Higher Education and PNP Sectors data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.OECD.MSTI: Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development: OECD Member: Annual.

For the United States, from 2021 onwards, changes to the US BERD survey questionnaire allowed for more exhaustive identification of acquisition costs for ‘identifiable intangible assets’ used for R&D. This has resulted in a substantial increase in reported R&D capital expenditure within BERD. In the business sector, the funds from the rest of the world previously included in the business-financed BERD, are available separately from 2008. From 2006 onwards, GOVERD includes state government intramural performance (most of which being financed by the federal government and state government own funds). From 2016 onwards, PNPERD data are based on a new R&D performer survey. In the higher education sector all fields of SSH are included from 2003 onwards.

Following a survey of federally-funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) in 2005, it was concluded that FFRDC R&D belongs in the government sector - rather than the sector of the FFRDC administrator, as had been reported in the past. R&D expenditures by FFRDCs were reclassified from the other three R&D performing sectors to the Government sector; previously published data were revised accordingly. Between 2003 and 2004, the method used to classify data by industry has been revised. This particularly affects the ISIC category “wholesale trade” and consequently the BERD for total services.

U.S. R&D data are generally comparable, but there are some areas of underestimation:

1. i) Up to 2008, Government sector R&D performance covers only federal government activities. That by State and local government establishments is excluded;
2. ii) Except for the Government and the Business Enterprise sectors, the R&D data exclude most capital expenditures. For the Business Enterprise sector, depreciation is reported in place of gross capital expenditures up to 2014. Higher education (and national total) data were revised back to 1998 due to an improved methodology that corrects for double-counting of R&D funds passed between institutions.

Breakdown by type of R&D (basic research, applied research, etc.) was also revised back to 1998 in the business enterprise and higher education sectors due to improved estimation procedures.

The methodology for estimating researchers was changed as of 1985. In the Government, Higher Education and PNP sectors the data since then refer to employed doctoral scientists and engineers who report their primary work activity as research, development or the management of R&D, plus, for the Higher Education sector, the number of full-time equivalent graduate students with research assistantships averaging an estimated 50 % of their time engaged in R&D activities. As of 1985 researchers in the Government sector exclude military personnel. As of 1987, Higher education R&D personnel also include those who report their primary work activity as design.

Due to lack of official data for the different employment sectors, the total researchers figure is an OECD estimate up to 2019. Comprehensive reporting of R&D personnel statistics by the United States has resumed with records available since 2020, reflecting the addition of official figures for the number of researchers and total R&D personnel for the higher education sector and the Private non-profit sector; as well as the number of researchers for the government sector. The new data revise downwards previous OECD estimates as the OECD extrapolation methods drawing on historical US data, required to produce a consistent OECD aggregate, appear to have previously overestimated the growth in the number of researchers in the higher education sector.

Pre-production development is excluded from Defence GBARD (in accordance with the Frascati Manual) as of 2000. 2009 GBARD data also includes the one time incremental R&D funding legislated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Beginning with the 2000 GBARD data, budgets for capital expenditure – “R&D plant” in national terminology - are included. GBARD data for earlier years relate to budgets for current costs only.

The National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimate (EDGE) program develops annually updated point locations (latitude and longitude) for postsecondary institutions included in the NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The IPEDS program annually collects information about enrollments, program completions, graduation rates, faculty and staff, finances, institutional prices, and student financial aid from every college, university, and technical and vocational institution that participates in federal student financial aid programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended). IPEDS school point locations are derived from reported information about the physical location of schools. The NCES EDGE program collaborates with the U.S. Census Bureau's Education Demographic, Geographic, and Economic Statistics (EDGE) Branch to develop point locations for schools reported in the annual IPEDS file. The point locations in this data layer were developed from the 2020-2021 IPEDS collection. For more information about NCES school point data, see: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/Geographic/SchoolLocations.All information contained in this file is in the public domain. Data users are advised to review NCES program documentation and feature class metadata to understand the limitations and appropriate use of these data.