The number of colleges eligible for Title IV financial aid dropped slightly to 5,819 in the 2023-24 academic year, down 1.7% from the year before, according to data released Wednesday from the National Center of Education Statistics.
That decline represents an overall loss of about 100 Title IV institutions. Those reductions include colleges that closed, institutions that remain open but lost their Title IV eligibility and those that merged, according to an emailed statement from NCES.
The for-profit sector experienced some of the heaviest declines, the new data shows.
NCES counted 307 four-year for-profits in the 2023-24 academic year, a 4.1% drop year over year. Similarly, the number of two-year for-profit institutions declined 3.6% year over year, falling to 508 colleges.
Private nonprofits also suffered some losses.
The U.S. had 1,567 four-year private nonprofits in the 2023-24 year, down 1.3% from the year before. That translates into a sectorwide loss of 20 Title IV institutions.
Public four-years were the only institution type that saw increases.
Their numbers rose 1.7% in 2023-24 year over year to total 817 public four-years. That increase included 16 two-year colleges that became four-year institutions, according to a press release from NCES.
The new data comes as concerns grow around college closures. In late April, The Hechinger Report said an average of one college each week had either announced it would close or merge with another institution since the beginning of 2024.
