Classification Description

Enrollment Profile Classification

By grouping institutions according to the mix of students enrolled at the undergraduate and graduate/professional levels, this classification provides a bird’s eye view of the student population. Exclusively undergraduate institutions are further broken down by level (two-year and four-year). For institutions with both undergraduate and graduate/professional students, institutions are grouped according to the distribution of full-time equivalent students across the two levels, giving an approximate measure of the student population’s "center of gravity." As a result, it reflects important differences with respect to educational mission as well as institutional climate and culture—differences that can have implications for infrastructure, services, and resource allocation.

The categories are as follows:

ExU2: Exclusively undergraduate two-year
Fall enrollment data show only undergraduates enrolled, and at these associate’s degree granting institutions.

ExU4: Exclusively undergraduate four-year
Fall enrollment data show only undergraduates enrolled, at these bachelor’s granting institutions.

VHU: Very high undergraduate
Fall enrollment data show both undergraduate and graduate/professional students, with the latter group accounting for less than 10 percent of FTE* enrollment.

HU: High undergraduate
Fall enrollment data show both undergraduate and graduate/professional students, with the latter group accounting for 10–24 percent of FTE enrollment.

MU: Majority undergraduate
Fall enrollment data show both undergraduate and graduate/professional students, with the latter group accounting for 25–49 percent of FTE enrollment.

MGP: Majority graduate/professional
Fall enrollment data show both undergraduate and graduate/professional students, with the latter group accounting for at least half of FTE enrollment.

ExGP: Exclusively graduate/professional
Fall enrollment data show only graduate/professional students enrolled.


* FTE: Full-time equivalent enrollment was calculated as full-time plus one-third part-time.

Classifications are time-specific snapshots of institutional attributes and behavior based on data from 2003 and 2004. Institutions might be classified differently using a different timeframe.