“Let’s continue to Strive for Success by encouraging our students to Succeed by exposing them to institutions of higher learning”
College and University Education
In fall 2010, a record 19.1 million students are expected to attend the Nation’s 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities, an increase of about 3.8 million since fall 2000 (source).
Females are expected to comprise the majority of college students: 10.9 million females will attend in fall 2010, compared with 8.3 million males. Although the majority of students will attend full time (an estimated 11.9 million for fall 2010), about 7.2 million are expected to attend part time (source).
About 7.5 million students are expected to attend public 4-year institutions (source), 6.7 million will attend public 2-year institutions (source), about 4.6 million will attend private 4-year institutions (source), and 0.3 million will attend private 2-year colleges (source).
The record college enrollments have been driven by both increases in the traditional college age population and rising enrollment rates. Between 2000 and 2009, the 18- to 24-year-old population rose from approximately 27.3 million to approximately 30.1 million (source) and the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college also was higher in 2009 (41.3 percent) than in 2000 (35.5 percent) (source and U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, October 2009).
Increasing numbers and percentages of Black and Hispanic students are attending college. Between 2000 and 2008, the percentage of college students who were Black rose from 11.3 to 13.5 percent, and the percentage of students who were Hispanic rose from 9.5 to 11.9 percent (source). The increases reflect growing numbers of college-age Blacks and Hispanics (source) and higher enrollment rates for Hispanics (source).
For the 2008-09 academic year, annual prices for undergraduate tuition, room, and board were estimated to be $12,283 at public institutions (including $4,544 for in-state tuition) and $31,233 at private institutions (source) .
During the 2010-11 school year, colleges and universities are expected to award 798,000 associate’s degrees (source); 1,669,000 bachelor's degrees (source); 659,000 master's degrees (source); 96,500 first-professional degrees (source); and 69,600 doctor's degrees (source).
For more information, please see:
· The Condition of Education: The annual report to Congress on important developments and trends in U.S. education.
· The Digest of Education Statistics: A compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from pre kindergarten through graduate school.