Key Facts 2023: Private, Nonprofit Higher Education

 

There are more than 1,700 private, nonprofit colleges and universities in the U.S., enrolling more than 5.2 million students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
There is a private, nonprofit college or university in 395 of the 435 congressional districts.

Of students attending a four-year college or university, one of four is enrolled at a private, nonprofit college or institution. The median enrollment of four-year private, nonprofit institutions is 1,209 students and one out of five has fewer than 250 students.
 

Sources “Private, Nonprofit Higher Education: Shaping Lives and Anchoring Communities,” National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, April 2021. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 2002 through Spring 2013 and Winter 2013-14 through Winter 2020-21, Graduation Rates component; and IPEDS Winter 2014, Admissions component; U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/17), U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, October 2019 2017-18 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:AC), U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Institutional Characteristics (2020-21), Finance (FY 2021), Fall Enrollment (2021), and 12-month Enrollment (2020-21) surveys, U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. ' College Board, “Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2022”, October 2022. College Board, “Trends in Student Aid 2018”, October 2018.

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