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.

The Colleges and Universities feature class/shapefile is composed of all Post Secondary Education facilities as defined by the Integrated Post Secondary Education System (IPEDS, http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, https://nces.ed.gov/), US Department of Education for the 2018-2019 school year. Included are Doctoral/Research Universities, Masters Colleges and Universities, Baccalaureate Colleges, Associates Colleges, Theological seminaries, Medical Schools and other health care professions, Schools of engineering and technology, business and management, art, music, design, Law schools, Teachers colleges, Tribal colleges, and other specialized institutions. Overall, this data layer covers all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and other assorted U.S. territories. This feature class contains all MEDS/MEDS+ as approved by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Homeland Security Infrastructure Program (HSIP) Team. Complete field and attribute information is available in the ”Entities and Attributes” metadata section. Geographical coverage is depicted in the thumbnail above and detailed in the "Place Keyword" section of the metadata. This feature class does not have a relationship class but is related to Supplemental Colleges. Colleges and Universities that are not included in the NCES IPEDS data are added to the Supplemental Colleges feature class when found. This release includes the addition of 175 new records, the removal of 468 no longer reported by NCES, and modifications to the spatial location and/or attribution of 6682 records.

India has the most universities worldwide. According to data from July 2023, there were an estimated 5,350 universities in India. Indonesia had the second most universities, counting 3,300, followed by the United States with 3,200 universities.

In 2021, there were 384 institutions of higher education in the state of California. Of these 384 institutions, 247 were four-year institutions and 137 were two- year institutions. California had the most higher education institutions of any state in that year.

Expert industry market research on the Colleges & Universities in the US (2005-2030). Make better business decisions, faster with IBISWorld's industry market research reports, statistics, analysis, data, trends and forecasts.

In 2023, there were 403 institutions of higher education in the state of California. Of these 403 institutions, 250 were four-year institutions and 153 were two-year institutions. California had the most higher education institutions of any state in that year.

Colleges and UniversitiesThis feature layer, utilizing data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), displays colleges and universities in the U.S. and its territories. NCES uses the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) as the "primary source for information on U.S. colleges, universities, and technical and vocational institutions." According to NCES, this layer "contains directory information for every institution in the 2021-22 IPEDS universe. Includes name, address, city, state, zip code and various URL links to the institution's home page, admissions, financial aid offices and the net price calculator. Identifies institutions as currently active, institutions that participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs for which IPEDS is mandatory. It also includes variables derived from the 2021-22 Institutional Characteristics survey, such as control and level of institution, highest level and highest degree offered and Carnegie classifications."Gallaudet UniversityData currency: 2021Data source: IPEDS Complete Data FilesData modification: Removed fields with coded values and replaced with descriptionsFor more information: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data SystemSupport documentation: IPEDS Complete Data Files > Directory Information > DictionaryFor feedback, please contact: ArcGIScomNationalMaps@esri.comU.S. Department of Education (ED)Per ED, "ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.ED was created in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies." ED's employees and budget "are dedicated to:Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds.Collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research.Focusing national attention on key educational issues.Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education."

In 2021, there were about 1.67 million White students enrolled in post-baccalaureate courses in the United States. This is compared to 382,100 Black or African-American students enrolled in post-baccalaureate courses in that same year.

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.

This statistic shows the number of 4-year higher education institutions in the United States from 1980 to 2017. In 2017, there were 2,078 public and 750 private 4-year institutions across the United States.

This Private Schools feature dataset is composed of private elementary and secondary education facilities in the United States as defined by the Private School Survey (PSS, https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, https://nces.ed.gov), US Department of Education for the 2017-2018 school year. This includes all prekindergarten through 12th grade schools as tracked by the PSS. This feature class contains all MEDS/MEDS+ as approved by NGA. Complete field and attribute information is available in the ”Entities and Attributes” metadata section. Geographical coverage is depicted in the thumbnail above and detailed in the Place Keyword section of the metadata. This release includes the addition of 2675 new records, modifications to the spatial location and/or attribution of 19836 records, the removal of 254 records no longer applicable. Additionally, 10,870 records were removed that previously had a STATUS value of 2 (Unknown; not represented in the most recent PSS data) and duplicate records identified by ORNL.

This dataset is about universities and is filtered where the country includes United States, featuring 15 columns including address, city, country, description, and domain. The preview is ordered by total students (descending).

In 2022, there were 826 public and 454 private 2-year higher education institutions across the United States. The number of both private and public 2-year institutions has decreased since 2012.

2-year higher education institutions includes universities, colleges, professional schools, and junior and teachers' colleges.

Graph and download economic data for Hours Worked for Educational Services: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (NAICS 611310) in the United States (IPUQN611310L010000000) from 1987 to 2023 about schools, professional, NAICS, tertiary schooling, IP, hours, education, services, and USA.

As of January 2023, there were 932 public community colleges registered with the AACC in the United States. This is compared to 71 independent community colleges registered in the United States in that same year.

The Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) series was designed to provide comprehensive information on various aspects of postsecondary education in the United States and its territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Marshall Islands) and Department of Defense schools outside the United States. The HEGIS Fall Enrollment Component for 1973 sought enrollment data from 3,015 institutions of higher education both public and nonpublic (2-and 4-year) which is the only survey giving a national count of the numbers of students enrolled in these institutions. The data collected from the 50 states, District of Columbia, and outlying territories give counts of total enrollments by class level, sex, race, calendar system, type of accreditation, attendance status (full time vs. part time) and enrollments of first time students. All of these data are acquired in terms of head counts and full time equivalents, by state.

Based on their overall scores according to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2025, most of the leading Latin American universities are located in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. The Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) ranked first with a score of 67.6 out of 100, while the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM) ranked fourth, with 61.4 points.

The Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) series was designed to provide comprehensive information on various aspects of postsecondary education in the United States and its territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Marshall Islands) and Department of Defense schools outside the United States. Data are available for both public and private two-year and four-year institutions. The HEGIS Institutional Characteristics component for 1977-1978 sought data on basic characteristics from institutions of higher education. The data include information on name, address, and telephone number of the institution as well as information about accreditations, state and city demographics, calendar system, program types, enrollment figures, administrative officers, student services, tuition and fees, room and board, and admission requirements. (Source: ICPSR, retrieved 07/14/2011)

Several soil science education studies over the last 15 years have focused on the number of students enrolled in soil science programs. However, no studies have quantitatively addressed the number of undergraduate soil science preparatory programs that exist in the United States, which means we do not have solid data concerning whether overall program numbers are declining, rising, or holding steady. This also means we do not have complete data on the same trends for total undergraduate soil science students in the United States. This study used the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Soil Science Series 0470 standards to determine if a bachelor's degree met soil science preparatory criteria. Lists of the approximately 3,500 regionally accredited colleges and universities were obtained from the regional accrediting agencies and the website of each of the colleges and universities was visited to determine if they had a degree program that met the OPM 0470 criteria. A total of 92 soil science preparatory degree programs were identified at 86 colleges and universities. These programs were primarily linked to 1) agriculture, 2) environmental science, and 3) soil and water science based on number of degree occurrences. This study creates a baseline for future studies that can investigate trends in soil science programs. It also provides insight into the institutions and degree programs that should be included in soil science education studies.

Table 4. Number and percentage distribution of private schools, by urbanicity type and selected school characteristics: United States, 2017–18