52 College Enrollment Statistics 2024 — Trends & Data

Students enrolled in undergraduate colleges increased by 1.2%, reaching 15.2 million in Fall 2023. At the same time, the total college enrollments amounted to 18.1 million.

There have been great fluctuations in student enrollment over the past year. However, NCES has predicted that 19.25 million students will be enrolled in public and private institutes in 2024.

Let’s explore the latest data about college enrollment by Institute, demographics, degree, State, and International enrollment. 

College Enrollment Statistics 2024 (Top Picks)

  • In fall 2023, 18.1 million students were enrolled in colleges and universities.
  • Around 15.2 million students enrolled in an undergraduate program, and around 3.1 million were enrolled in a graduate-level program. 
  • 13.14 million students were enrolled in public institutes, while 4.87 billion were enrolled in private institutes. 
  • 65% of the students who enrolled in Fall 2023 attended full-time college, while 35% attended part-time. 
  • Around 11.2 million college students, 60% of the total students enrolled in colleges in Fall 2023, were enrolled in at least one distance education course. 
  • 30% of the students enrolled in colleges in Fall 2023 were enrolled for exclusively online courses. 

Note: Some students in fall 2023 were enrolled in both undergraduate and graduate-level programs. 

General College Enrollment Statistics

  1. 18.1 million students were enrolled in colleges in the US during the fall of 2023. 
  1. 15.2 million students were enrolled in an undergraduate program in the fall of 2023. 
  1. Undergraduate enrollment increased by 1.2% in fall 2023, a jump of 176,000 compared to 2022.
  1. The enrollment in the first year of college grew only by 0.8% in fall 2023. That is just an increase of 18,000 in the enrollment rates. 
  1. 19.25 million are estimated to enroll in public and private colleges in 2024. 
  1. In 2022, 18.58 million students enrolled in public and private colleges in the United States.
  1. According to Statista, 20.3 million students in the United States were enrolled in undergraduate degrees in the academic year 2022-23. 

This was a slight decrease from 20.4 million enrolled students in undergraduate courses in the academic year 2021-2022.

The following table displays the number of students enrolled in undergraduate colleges in the United States. 

Academic YearNumber Of Students Enrolled In College
2022 -2320.3 million
2021 -2220.4 million
2020 -2121 million
2019 -2021.8 million
2018 -1922.1 million
2017 -1822.2 million
2016 -1722.5 million
2015 -1622.8 million
2014 -1523.2 million

Source: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, Statista, NCES

College Enrollment By Institution Type

  1. 7.64 million students were enrolled in public four-year colleges in fall 2023, while 4.57 million were enrolled in public two-year colleges in 2023.
Estimated College Enrollment In Fall 2023 By Institution Type

The following table displays the number of college enrollments recorded in different institutes in fall 2023.

Institution TypeEstimated College Enrollment In Fall 2023
Public Four-Year7,644,504
Public Two Year4,566,605
Private Non-Profit Four Year4,025,030
Public PAB932,348
Private For-profit Four-Year 848,433
  1. The college enrollments in community colleges increased by 118,000, a jump of 2.6% in the enrollment rates in Fall 2023.
  1. The college enrollments at public 4-year institutions grew by 38,000, while those at private nonprofit 4-year institutions increased by 16,000. This was a 0.6% enrollment increase for public and private nonprofit 4-year institutions in Fall 2023. 
  1. 14.09 million students are anticipated to enroll in public colleges in 2024, while 5.16 million are estimated to enroll in private colleges.
  1. 13.49 million students enrolled in Public college in 2022. 

At the same time, 5.09 million students enrolled in private colleges during the same time. 

The following table displays the number of students who enrolled in college over the past years and the projections for the upcoming years.

YearPublic College EnrollmentsPrivate College Enrollments
2031*14.78 million5.45 million
2030*14.74 million5.43 million
2029*14.71 million5.42 million
2028*14.68 million5.4 million
2027*14.6 million5.36 million
2026*14.49 million5.32 million
2025*14.32 million5.25 million
2024*14.09 million5.16 million
2023*13.86 million5.08 million
202213.49 million5.09 million
202113.55 million5.11 million
202013.88 million5.13 million

*- Projected Values

  1. 5.02 million students are estimated to enroll in 2-year colleges, and 11.12 million students are estimated to enroll in 4-year colleges in 2024.
  1. 4.68 million students were enrolled in 2-year colleges in the United States in 2021, while 10.77 million were enrolled in 4-year colleges.

The following table displays the number of student enrolments in 2-year and 4-year colleges in the United States. 

YearNumber Of Student Enrolment In 2-year CollegeNumber Of Student Enrolment In 4-year College
20214,682,59610,765,824
2022*4,928,10710,942,155
2023*4,940,26310,947,151
2024*5,023,32211,121,439
2025*5,100,36911,306,196
2026*5,153,77611,449,193
2027*5,185,40011,538,262
2028*5,205,12611,583,270
2029*5,221,41511,577,760
2030*5,236,64511,553,481
2031*5,262,27711,560,451

Source: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, Statista, NCES.

College Enrollment By Attendance

  1. 65% of the students enrolled in colleges in fall 2023 were full-time, while 35% studied part-time.
  1. 9.97 million students are anticipated to be full-time students, while 6.18 students are anticipated to be part-time students in 2024. 
  1. 9.5 million students were full-time students in undergraduate institutions, while 5.95 million were enrolled as part-time students in 2021. 

The following table displays the number of full-time and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate courses over the years. 

YearFull-time Students Enrolled Part-time Students Enrolled
20219,499,7645,948,656
2022*9,824,6766,045,586
2023*9,817,7786,069,636
2024*9,968,4716,176,290
2025*10,144,0206,262,545
2026*10,281,0186,321,951
2027*10,348,9776,374,685
2028*10,364,8526,423,544
2029*10,329,2676,469,908
2030*10,276,4286,513,698
2031*10,262,8156,559,913
  1. 41% of the public 2-year undergraduate students participated exclusively in distance education courses. 
  1. At the same time, 35% and 15% of 2-year undergraduate students in private nonprofit and private for-profit institutions studied exclusively in distance education courses. 
  1. 71% of the undergraduate 4-year college students studying at private for-profit institutions studied exclusively in distance education courses. 
  1. Meanwhile, 20% of undergraduate students at 4-year public institutes and another 20% of students in private nonprofit institutes studied in distance education courses.  
  1. In 2022, 4.3 million college students aged 15 and over were employed full-time, compared to 4.8 million full-time employed college students enrolled in 2021. 
  1. Another 4.7 million students enrolled in college in 2022 were employed part-time, and 8.2 million were unemployed. 

Source: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, NCES, United States Census Bureau.

College Enrollment Demographics

  1. In fall 2023, undergraduate enrollment increased among all races except White and Native American students. They witnessed a decrease of 124,000 and 1,000 enrollments, respectively, compared to the previous year. 
Undergraduate And Graduate Enrollment In Fall 2023 By Ethnicity

The following table displays the race/ ethnicity of the students enrolled in college in Fall 2023.

RaceUndergraduate EnrollmentGraduate Enrollment
White6,182,9881,270,826
Hispanic2,788,609286,406
Black1,641,582309,308
Asian898,076231,765
Native American101,20416,895
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander41,0935,490
Multiracial662,755112,216
International154,097160,467
Unknown or unreported2,777,636709,501
  1. Female students enrolled in undergraduate degree programs in fall 2023 increased by 27,000, 0.3% compared to the previous year, while male enrollment grew by 64,000, a 1.1% increase from 2022. 
  1. In 2024, 6.76 million male and 9.39 female students are estimated to enroll in undergraduate degree-granting post-secondary colleges. 
  1. 6.53 million male students were enrolled in 2021, while the number of females enrolled in undergraduate degree-granting post-secondary colleges in the same year was 8.92 million.

The following table displays the number of male and female students enrolled in undergraduate degree-granting post-secondary colleges over the years. 

YearMale Students Enrolled In CollegesFemale Students Enrolled In Colleges
20216,525,4388,922,982
2022*6,632,0649,238,198
2023*6,634,6539,252,761
2024*6,757,6379,387,124
2025*6,886,0419,520,524
2026*6,983,8809,619,089
2027*7,048,2129,675,450
2028*7,087,2579,701,139
2029*7,100,7939,698,382
2030*7,104,0179,686,109
2031*7,122,2129,700,516
  1. The number of college enrollments of American Indian/Alaska Natives decreased from 116,245 in 2019 to 107,013 in 2021. 
  1. Over 7.83 million students enrolled in undergraduate institutions in 2021 were white. 

At the same time, 3.31 million students enrolled in undergraduate institutes were Hispanic. 

The following table displays the number of students from different ethnicities enrolled in undergraduate colleges.

Race/ EthnicityStudents Enrollled In 2019Students Enrollled In 2021
American Indian/Alaska Native116,245107,013
Asian1,102,4641,098,939
Black2,100,1531,947,653
Hispanic3,478,4073,306,301
Pacific Islander44,87940,972
White8,497,8387,828,943
Two or more races668,996663,082
U.S. nonresident548,557455,517
  1. 60% of the Asian students aged 18 to 24 were enrolled in college in 2021.

At the same time, 38% of white students aged 18 to 24 were enrolled in college in 2021.

The following table displays the percentage of students aged 18 to 24 from different races enrolled in colleges. 

Race/ EthnicityPercentage Of 18 To 24 Years Enrolled In Colleges 
American Indian/Alaska Native28%
Asian60%
Black37%
Hispanic33%
Pacific Islander45%
White38%
Two or more races35%

Source:  National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, NCES

College Enrollment Statistics By Degree

  1. 4.25 million students were enrolled in associated degrees in the United States in 2021. This was a decrease of 10.9% compared to 2020. 
  1. Enrollment in associate community colleges decreased by 9.5% in 2021. 
  1. The enrollment rate at community colleges for associated degrees declined by 65%.
  1. The college enrollment for visual and performing arts associate degrees declined by 18.1%
  1. The bachelor’s degree enrollment rates declined by 2.2% in 2021. 
  1. Most majors in the bachelor’s degree witnessed a decline of 5%.
  1. The psychology field witnessed the highest increase in college enrollment in 2021. The enrollments grew by 4.8% compared to 2020. 
  1. The enrollment rate for the master’s degree increased by 7.4% in 2021. 
  1. The doctoral degree witnessed an increase of 3.6% in the college enrollments. 
  1. 124,000 more students enrolled in graduate colleges in the United States in 2021. This was an increase of 4.6% from the previous year.
  1. College enrollments for Education doctoral degree programs increased by 4.6% in 2021. 
  1. 4.49 million students graduated in 2021; of them, 26.3% were enrolled in associate degrees, 48.6% in bachelor degrees, 20.3% in masters degrees, and 4.6% in doctorates of professional degrees. 

Source: Research.com

College Enrollment Statistics By State

  1. California State had the highest number of college enrollments in the United States in 2020, with 2.58 million. 

Comparatively, Texas had the second-highest college enrollment in the United States, with 1.60 million students enrolled in the year. 

The following table displays the states with the highest college enrollment in the United States. 

States Number Of College Enrollments In 2020
California2,579,991
Texas1,601,399
New York1,182,412
Florida1,027,331
Illinois681,988
Pennsylvania667,515
Ohio654,555
Arizona600,103
North Carolina557,673
Virginia555,755
  1. Alaska had the lowest number of college enrollments in the United States, with just 22,106 in 2020. 

At the same time, Wyoming and Vermont witnessed the second and the thirst lowest college enrolment of 30,943 and 39,646, respectively, in 2023.

The following table displays the states with the lowest college enrollments recorded in 2020. 

States Number Of College Enrollments In 2020
Alaska22,106
Wyoming30,943
Vermont39,646
Montana45,461
South Dakota50,849
North Dakota51,308
Delaware58,678
Hawaii59,693
Maine69,838
Rhode Island77,087

Source: Education data

International Student Enrollment Statistics

  1. 858,365 international students enrolled in colleges in the United States in the academic year 2022-23. 
  1. Comparatively,763,750 International students enrolled in colleges in the academic year 2021- 22.  
  1. The enrollment of international students in US colleges increased by 14% in the academic year 2022-23. 
  1. The second highest number of international students who enrolled in US colleges in 2022-23 were from India. 

268,923 college students in the US were from India. This was an increase of 35% compared to that recorded in 2021-2022.

  1. 27% of the international students enrolled in US colleges were from China, while 25% were from India. 
Percentage Share Of International Students Enrolled In US

Here are further details about the number and percentage share of International students enrolled in US colleges in the academic year 2022-23. 

Country Number Of International StudentsPercentage Share Of International Students Enrolled In US
China 289,52627%
India 268,92325%
South Korea43,8474%
Canada27,8763%
Vietnam21,9002%
Taiwan21,8342%
Nigeria17,6402%
Japan16,0542%
Others33%
  1. 17,640 international students who enrolled in colleges in the academic year 2022-23 were from Nigeria, while 6,468 were from Ghana. 

Other counties  from the African region that had a strong enrollment rate in US colleges in the academic year 2022-23 are as follows:

  • Kenya: 4,059 students
  • Ethiopia: 3,006 students
  • South Africa: 2,713 students
  1. In 2022, 324,196 active students enrolled in US colleges were from China, while 297,151 were from India. 

The following table displays the active student count of international students enrolled in US colleges from different countries in 2022.

CountryNumber Of Active Students In 2022
China324,196
India297,151
South Korea62,617
Canada41,392
Brazil37,904
Vietnam29,742
Japan26,519
Taiwan26,225
Saudi Arabia24,485
Nigeria22,935
  1. In 2022, Computer Science was the most popular major among the international students enrolled in the US. 91,083 international students were enrolled in the computer science major in that year. 

Here are further details about the most popular Primary majors among international students in US colleges.

  • Computer Science: 91,083 
  • Second language learning (Excludes English): 89,266
  • Business administration and management:81,797
  • Computer and Information Sciences: 63,955
  • Electrical and electronic engineering: 37,809
  • Mechanical engineering: 30,561
  • Management Science: 29,182
  • General studies: 25,824
  • Econometrics and Quantitative Economics: 25,573
  • Liberal Arts and Science/Liberal Studies: 24,421

Sources: US News, Inside High Ed, Boundless

Conclusion: College Enrollment Is Expected To Cross 19 Million In 2024

It will be fascinating to see if the college enrollment crosses 19 million as predicted by NCES or if the enrollment decreases in 2024. 

However, considering most people worldwide have resumed their everyday lives and overcome the pandemic effects, we expect college enrollments to increase in 2024.

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