A variety of institutions provide the education necessary to maintain and enhance the U.S. S&E enterprise. Different types of institutions offer access to S&E education for students with varying resources and needs. Open access institutions that offer certificates and degrees below the bachelor’s degree are more available to students with limited financial resources or limited geographic mobility due to family obligations, for example. Four-year institutions include small, liberal arts colleges, which are largely private, nonprofit institutions; broad access public and for-profit universities focused largely on teaching; and selective public and private nonprofit universities that have significant research activity as well as teaching. Moreover, these institutions are interdependent: community colleges train the skilled technical workforce (STW)—people who work in occupations that require specific STEM knowledge and skills but do not require a bachelor’s degree—and research careers begin in these institutions as well. Research universities train community college faculty as well as the scientists and engineers who develop technologies used by skilled technical workers.

In academic year 2021–22, about 6,000 U.S. institutions conferred postsecondary education awards, including certificates and associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees (Table HED-1).^{​Previous editions of this report provided the number of degree-granting institutions in the United States. This edition includes non-degree-granting institutions as well because many of them confer only sub-associate certificates, awards that take less than 2 years to complete. Although postsecondary institutions confer other certificates as well, the statistics in this report include only sub-associate certificates, referred to as certificates throughout the report.} In addition to the level of awards they confer, institutions vary by control (e.g., whether they are public or private entities and, among private institutions, whether they are for-profit or nonprofit). About a third of all institutions offered awards that required less than 2 years to complete but were not degrees, and most of these (1,600 out of 2,000) were for-profit institutions. In contrast, 60% of doctoral institutions were private nonprofit.

Institutions’ contributions to S&E and S&E-related knowledge and skill development vary by level and control. Training that leads to employment in the STW, which includes education in both S&E and S&E-related fields, is usually available at certificate- and associate’s-level institutions. Doctoral-level institutions train scientists and college and university faculty to lead S&E and S&E-related research and to teach undergraduates and graduate students. These institutions also provide infrastructure for research and development (R&D) by faculty and students. Associate’s-, bachelor’s-, and master’s-level institutions train students for specific occupations, educate them in the S&E disciplines and research methods necessary for careers in S&E research and teaching at the elementary and secondary levels, and also conduct and support original R&D. S&E degree holders find employment across all sectors of the economy, with most individuals with an S&E bachelor’s degree or higher working at for-profit businesses (see forthcoming Indicators 2024 report “The STEM Labor Force: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers”).

Relative to all postsecondary institutions, MSIs serve larger proportions of students from specific racial and ethnic groups.^{​The student populations described in MSI designations do not necessarily map uniformly to standard race and ethnicity categories used by federal statistical agencies. Furthermore, these student populations can include a mix of racial and ethnic groups that vary in their degree of representation in S&E higher education.} The 35 American Indian tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs) and 100 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) extant in 2021 were defined as such by the Higher Education Act based on the populations of students they have served since their founding (Table SHED-1). Other types of MSIs—including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian–serving institutions (ANNHSIs, 16 institutions), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander–serving institutions (AANAPISIs, 191 institutions), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs, 516 institutions), Native American–serving nontribal institutions (NASNTIs, 30 institutions), and predominantly Black institutions (PBIs, 64 institutions)—are defined by the racial and ethnic distribution of their students; designation as one of these institutions can vary from year to year, depending on enrollment.^{​The categories of MSIs discussed in this report were determined using the 2022 eligibility matrix developed by the U.S. Department of Education to award federal funding to support institutions serving these groups of students. See https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html#el-inst for annual lists of institutions designated as eligible for these funds.} In 2021, there were 811 MSI institutions in the United States, 139 of which had more than one MSI designation. All ANNHSIs, for example, have at least one other MSI designation as well.

In 2021, half of HBCUs were public institutions, and at least two-thirds of the institutions in each of the other MSI categories were also public; the remainder were private nonprofit. None of the MSIs in these categories grant only certificates, but all MSI categories had institutions at the associate’s level or above, with the exception of TCCUs, which had no doctoral institution.

Reflecting the geographic distribution of the racial and ethnic groups they serve, different categories of MSIs cluster in different areas of the country (Figure HED-1). HBCUs and PBIs, for example, cluster in Southeastern states; NASNTIs tend to be in Oklahoma and the Southwest; and TCCUs are found largely in the upper Midwest and northern Plains states.

In academic year 2015–16, about 5,400,000 undergraduates, 30% of all undergraduates, were enrolled at MSIs (Figure HED-2; Table SHED-2). At the graduate level, about 550,000 students were enrolled at MSIs, accounting for 19% of all graduate students. Among MSIs, HSIs enrolled the most students, 16% of all undergraduates and 10% of graduate students.^{​All comparative statements in this report derived from sample surveys have undergone statistical testing; unless otherwise noted, all comparisons are statistically significant at the 0.10 significance level.} Institutions serving indigenous students—ANNHSIs, NASNTIs, and TCCUs—served the fewest. The percentage of students enrolled at MSIs differed by award level. About 21% of students in certificate programs were enrolled at an MSI, as were 43% of associate’s degree seekers, 21% of students in a bachelor’s degree program, 20% of master’s degree students, and 14% of doctoral degree students (Table SHED-2).

Among undergraduates who were enrolled in degree programs, 43% of students in all institutions and 40% of those in an MSI were majoring in S&E and S&E-related fields.^{​All statistics in this paragraph refer to students in degree programs with declared majors. Other students are excluded from the analysis. Percentages of students majoring in S&E and S&E-related fields are calculated from unrounded values and may differ from rounded values provided in Table SHED-2.} The percentage of MSI undergraduates who majored in S&E and S&E-related fields ranged from 37% at HSIs to 47% of students enrolled in AANAPISIs. At the graduate level, 43% of both MSI and all students were enrolled in S&E or S&E-related fields. Among types of MSIs, the percentage of graduate students enrolled in S&E or S&E-related fields ranged from 13% at institutions serving indigenous students to 45% at AANAPISIs.

The percentage of students who were pursuing a degree in S&E or S&E-related fields differed by award level and MSI type. For example, 61% of bachelor’s degree students at AANAPISIs majored in S&E or S&E-related fields, compared with 51% or less among bachelor’s degree students in other MSI types (Figure HED-3). Among doctoral students, 30% of those at HBCUs and PBIs were enrolled in S&E or S&E-related fields, compared with 55% of students at AANAPISIs and 69% of those at HSIs.

Community colleges are public colleges that offer certificate and associate’s degree programs that require 2 years or less to complete.^{​Community colleges are defined here as publicly controlled institutions that confer awards up to the at least 2-year but less than 4-year level. This includes both associate’s degrees and sub-associate’s certificates taking less than 2 years to complete.} They specialize in providing relatively affordable programs of study, including those in S&E and S&E-related fields. Certificates and associate’s degrees are common forms of preparation for S&E-related occupations in the STEM workforce (see Indicators 2022 report “The STEM Labor Force of Today: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers” section “Education and Training of Workers in STEM”). Community colleges awarded 50% of the S&E certificates and 76% of the S&E associate’s degrees conferred in 2021 (Figure HED-4). Community colleges also awarded 48% of S&E-related certificates and 55% of S&E-related associate’s degrees. From 2012 to 2021, the number of certificates and associate’s degrees awarded by community colleges increased in S&E fields but decreased in S&E-related fields.

The most popular broad S&E or S&E-related field of study for both certificates and associate’s degrees awarded by community colleges was health professions and related programs, an S&E-related field (Figure HED-5). Among S&E fields, community colleges awarded the largest number of certificates in computer and information sciences and the largest number of associate’s degrees in social sciences.

In addition to offering certificates and associate’s degrees, community colleges can be the first stop on the road to a bachelor’s or higher degree (Foley, Milan, and Hamrick 2020). Among students who began postsecondary education in science, engineering, and mathematics fields at a community college in academic year 2011–12, 12% had earned a bachelor’s degree within 6 years (i.e., by 2017) (Figure HED-6).^{​The aggregation of fields of study in the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS), and Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B) differs from the NCSES Taxonomy of Disciplines, which is used to classify awards from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).} In addition, 19% of community college students who had declared majors in psychology and other social sciences earned a bachelor’s degree within 6 years. Among 2015–16 bachelor’s degree recipients in S&E fields, about a quarter had begun postsecondary education at a community college, as had about a third of degree recipients in health and medicine (Table SHED-5).

Education at the associate’s degree level, predominantly offered by community colleges, also plays a role in the preparation of S&E doctorate recipients. Among individuals who earned doctorates in S&E fields between 2017 and 2021, 6% had previously earned associate’s degrees, including 12% of doctorate recipients in health sciences (Table SHED-6). Within some racial and ethnic groups, obtaining an associate’s degree was more common: 17% of American Indian or Alaska Native doctorate recipients, 10% of Black or African American doctorate recipients, and 10% of Hispanic doctorate recipients had previously earned an associate’s degree.

Since the advent of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill), enrollment in for-profit institutions has fluctuated considerably both in the number of students and as a percentage of all postsecondary enrollment, largely due to changes in federal financial aid regulations (Whitman 2018). Most recently, enrollment in for-profit institutions grew between 2000 and 2010 and then declined through 2018 (Table HED-2). In the early 2000s, regulations permitted for-profit institutions to realize more revenue from federal financial aid, including Pell Grants and federal student loans. The number of for-profit institutions increased, rising from 2,463 in 2002–03 to 3,533 in 2012–13 (Figure HED-7), and more financially needy students enrolled in these institutions (Deming, Goldin and Katz 2013; Fry and Cilluffo 2019). Between 2009 and 2015, the U.S. Department of Education proposed and implemented regulations that prevented institutions from participating in federal financial aid programs if too few of their graduates earned incomes sufficient to repay their loans (TICAS 2019). At least in part due to such regulations, the number of for-profit postsecondary institutions declined to 2,279 in 2021–22, and enrollment in for-profit institutions declined from 2.4 million to 1.3 million students between 2010 and 2021 (Table HED-2). At the certificate level, for-profit institutions made up 79% of U.S. institutions in 2021–22 (Table HED-1).

With the exception of certificates in S&E fields, the number of postsecondary awards conferred by for-profit institutions in S&E and S&E-related fields rose dramatically from 2000 through 2012 (Table HED-3). From 2012 through 2021, however, total awards conferred by for-profit institutions dropped precipitously, including a 48% decrease in S&E awards and a 36% decrease in S&E-related awards. Trends during this period differed between award levels and between S&E and S&E-related fields. In S&E fields, certificate and doctoral degree awards by for-profit institutions increased. In contrast, they declined in associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degree awards during this time. In S&E-related fields, certificate and associate’s degree awards decreased, while degree awards at the bachelor’s and master’s degree levels increased. For-profit institutions awarded no doctoral degrees in S&E-related fields through 2012 and awarded 24 doctoral degrees in 2021; however, doctoral degrees in S&E-related fields are relatively uncommon, making up about 1% of all doctoral degrees in each year from 2012 through 2021 (Table SHED-14).

Policymakers and others have expressed concern over geographic inequities across the United States in access to high-quality S&E education and careers (NSB 2020; NSF/EHR 2020). Higher education institutions vary in the percentage of degrees they award that are in S&E fields, and this variation is apparent at the state level.^{​S&E degrees discussed here are categorized by institution location and include postsecondary degrees awarded to all students, regardless of their residence or where they earned a high school credential.} States with the greatest share of bachelor’s degrees awarded in S&E fields—for example, Maryland (52%), Vermont (51%), District of Columbia (50%), California (49%), Oregon (49%), Washington (48%), and Massachusetts (46%)—were primarily on the West Coast and in the northeastern United States, with the exception of Wyoming (51%) (Figure HED-8). States with lower shares of bachelor’s degrees awarded in S&E fields were generally located in the middle and southeastern regions of the country, although the western states of Arizona (25%) and Utah (27%) had the lowest shares.

At the doctoral level, several states produced considerably higher concentrations of S&E degrees than were observed at the bachelor’s level. Alaska, which had the highest share of doctoral degrees awarded in S&E fields of any state (93%), awards a much smaller total number of doctoral degrees than most states and awards a comparatively high proportion of degrees in geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences (Figure HED-9). Several other states with high percentages of S&E doctoral degrees are also in the West—Washington (82%), Wyoming (82%), Nevada (81%)—and several northeastern states also awarded high percentages of doctorates in S&E fields: Vermont (82%), Massachusetts (80%), and Rhode Island (77%). In three states, institutions awarded 50% or less of all doctoral degrees in S&E fields: Kentucky (42%), Maine (43%), and Minnesota (50%).

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, online coursetaking increased through the early 21st century. For many students—for example, those who commute significant distances to attend classes or who balance postsecondary education with work or family responsibilities—online courses can reduce the cost of commuting in terms of time as well as of financial resources (NCES 2021b; Travers 2020). As Web-based technology advanced the quality of online interaction, broadband Internet access became more available, and the cost of the necessary electronic devices diminished, the percentages of postsecondary students who took at least one online course increased (NCES 2021b).

The percentage of students who enrolled in online education, whether individual courses or programs, differed by award level and field of study. In 2015–16, online classes were generally more popular among master’s degree students than among certificate, associate’s, bachelor’s, or doctoral degree students. Forty-six percent of science, engineering, and mathematics, 55% of psychology and other social sciences, and 60% of health and medicine master’s degree students took an online class (Table SHED-8). Fewer doctoral students took an online course: 13% in science, engineering, and mathematics programs; 31% in psychology and other social sciences programs; and 42% in health and medicine programs. From 2012 to 2016, the share of students who took an online course increased at every level from certificate to doctoral students and in nearly all fields.^{​Differences between 2012 and 2016 were not statistically significant for certificate and associate’s degree students in psychology and other social sciences, nor were they so for doctoral students in health and medicine.}

Compared with the percentage of students who took at least one online course, fewer students enrolled in postsecondary programs that were entirely online.^{​Differences were not statistically significant for certificate and doctoral degree students in psychology and other social sciences, nor were they so for doctoral students in health and medicine.} Online programs were more common among master’s degree students than among students at other degree levels.^{​Differences were not statistically significant between master’s and certificate students in psychology and other social sciences, nor were they so between master’s and doctoral degree students in health and medicine.} Thirty-six percent of master’s degree students in psychology and other social sciences, as well as in health and medicine, were enrolled in online programs (Table SHED-9). Among doctoral students, larger percentages of those in psychology and other social sciences (24%) and in health and medicine (27%) were enrolled in online programs than students in science, engineering, and mathematics fields (5%). The percentage of doctoral students in science, engineering, and mathematics fields who were enrolled in online programs increased from 2% in 2012 to 5% in 2016.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, public health measures required institutions to limit in-person instruction; as a consequence, participation in online postsecondary education accelerated dramatically between fall 2019 and fall 2020.^{​Estimates of online coursetaking in 2012 and 2016 were derived from student interviews collected as part of NPSAS. At the time this report was prepared, the IPEDS Fall Enrollment Survey was the only source of data on distance education for 2020. The IPEDS Fall Enrollment Survey does not disaggregate by comparable fields of study, uses different terminology, and is based on institution, rather than student, reports.} In 2019, about a third of postsecondary students took at least one distance education course; in 2020, this share increased to about three-fourths (Figure HED-10). The percentage of students who took only distance education courses more than doubled between 2019 and 2020, increasing from 18% to 45%.

The increase in distance education participation between 2019 and 2020 differed by institution control, with greater increases for private nonprofit and public institutions relative to for-profit institutions, though for-profit institutions continued to have a substantially higher percentage of students taking distance education courses. For-profit institutions began offering more online instruction in the late 1990s and continuing through the 2000s and 2010s (Howarth and Stifler 2019; Whitman 2018). Consequently, the percentage of students in for-profit institutions who took only distance education courses increased from 63% in 2019 to 67% in 2020, a difference of 4 percentage points (Figure HED-10). In contrast, the percentage of students in private nonprofit institutions who took only distance education courses increased from 21% to 39%; among students in public institutions, the percentage increased from 13% to 46%.