Of the 18 million undergraduate students at degree-granting institutions in the United States in fall 2010, some 76 percent attended public institutions, 15 percent attended private nonprofit institutions, and 10 percent attended private for-profit institutions.
Of the 18 million undergraduate students at degree-granting institutions in the United States in fall 2010, some 76 percent attended public, 15 percent attended private nonprofit, and 10 percent attended private for-profit institutions (see table A-36-1). Enrollment patterns by institutional control varied by race/ethnicity. For example, 18 percent of Black undergraduates attended private for-profit institutions in fall 2010, compared with 5 percent of Asian students. Fifty-one percent of Hispanic and 45 percent of both American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander undergraduates attended public 2-year institutions, compared with 38 percent of White, 40 percent of Black, and 41 percent of Asian students.
Some 11 million undergraduate students attended institutions full time in fall 2010, while 7 million attended part time. Among full-time students, the largest percentage (44 percent) attended public 4-year institutions, followed by 26 percent at public 2-year institutions and 19 percent at private nonprofit 4-year institutions. In contrast, about two-thirds of part-time students (64 percent) attended public 2-year institutions, 22 percent attended public 4-year institutions, and 7 percent attended private nonprofit 4-year institutions.
Some 79 percent of first-time, full-time students and 45 percent of first-time, part-time students who entered 4-year institutions in 2009 returned the following year to continue their studies; this percentage is known as the retention rate (see table A-36-2). At 2-year institutions, the retention rates for those who first entered school in 2009 were 61 percent for full-time and 42 percent for part-time students. Retention rates of first-time students varied by institutional control. For example, among first-time, full-time undergraduates at 4-year institutions, retention rates were higher at private nonprofit and public institutions (80 and 79 percent, respectively) than at private for-profit institutions (52 percent). However, among first-time, full-time undergraduates at 2-year institutions, retention rates at private for-profit institutions (67 percent) were higher than those at public and private nonprofit institutions (60 and 59 percent, respectively).
At 4-year institutions, retention rates of first-time students also varied by the percentage of applicants accepted for admission. At 4-year institutions with open admissions policies, 61 percent of first-time, full-time students and 41 percent of first-time, part-time students who enrolled in fall 2009 returned the following year. In contrast, at 4-year institutions that accepted less than a fourth of their applicants, 96 percent of first-time, full-time students and 82 percent of first-time, part-time students who enrolled in fall 2009 returned the following year.
At public 4-year institutions with open admissions policies, 29 percent of students who began as full-time, first-time undergraduates in 2004 completed a bachelor's degree within 6 years (by fall 2010). In contrast, at public 4-year institutions that accepted less than a fourth of their applicants, 82 percent of such students completed a bachelor's degree within 6 years. At private nonprofit and private for-profit institutions with open admissions policies, the 6-year graduation rates of bachelor's degree recipients in the 2004 cohort were 36 and 23 percent, respectively.
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