Industry Analysis
Market Research
In fall 2013, a record 21.8 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities, constituting an increase of about 6.5 million since fall 2000 (source).
Increases in the traditional college-age population and rising enrollment rates have contributed to the increase in college enrollment. Between 2000 and 2011, the 18- to 24-year-old population rose from approximately 27.3 million to approximately 31.1 million (source). The percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college also was higher in 2011 (42.0 percent) than in 2000 (35.5 percent) (source). This fall, these traditional college-age students will be joined by around 8.7 million older students ages 25 and over. The number of older students increased between 2000 and 2011 (source).
About 3.3 million students are expected to graduate from high school in 2013–14, including 3.0 million students from public high schools and 278,000 students from private high schools (source).
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98
http://www.census.gov/hhes/school/data/cps/historical/index.html Pull some of these graphs out to compare and contrast differences in college admissions over time.
Market size 8.2 million freshmen college applications in fall 2011