A larger portion of expenses at public two-year colleges goes toward instruction, institutional support, academic support and student services than at public four-year institutions, according to a new federal report.
In fiscal year 2017, about 42 percent of expenses at public two-year colleges went toward instruction, compared to 28 percent at public four-year institutions, the U.S. Education Department (ED) report shows.
About 17 percent of public two-year colleges’ expenses were for institutional support and 11 percent were for student services, compared to 8.5 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, at public four-year colleges and universities.
Public two-years spent about 8.7 percent of expenses on academic support, compared to 8.3 percent at public four-years.
At public four-years, research comprised about 12 percent of expenses, compared to 0.1 percent at public two-years.
ED does not include public two-year institutions that offer bachelor’s degrees among its data for public two-year colleges.
Other findings in the report:
- Of the 17.1 million undergraduate students in the U.S., 35 percent were enrolled in two-year institutions and 63 percent at four-year institutions. Among the 13.2 million undergrads studying at public institutions, 56 percent were at four-year institutions and about 44 percent were at two-year colleges.
- The one-year-later retention rate for first-time, credential-seeking students at public two-year colleges is 62 percent for full-time students and 45 percent for part-time students, compared to 81 percent and 54 percent, respectively, at public four-year institutions.
- Of the 5.8 million public two-year college students, 19 percent were enrolled in some distance education courses and 13 percent were enrolled exclusively in distance education courses. About two-thirds (67 percent) were not enrolled in any distance education courses.
