Community College institutions in the United States
Community colleges are public, two-year institutions whose highest award is an associate degree or certificate, classified under the Carnegie associate-degree categories. This dataset includes 920 U.S. institutions classified as Community College under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, maintained by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, enrolling about 5,368,457 students in total.
Of these, 826 are public and 94 private. The largest by enrollment include Ivy Tech Community College, Lone Star College System, and Dallas College. Among institutions that report the figure, the median graduation rate is 37% and the median average net price is $8,169.
R1 vs R2 vs Doctoral/Professional
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, maintained by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation, sorts doctoral universities into these research tiers.
| Tier | Research activity | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | Very high research activity | Doctoral universities with the highest level of research activity, the top Carnegie research tier (e.g. Harvard, MIT, most flagship state universities). |
| R2 | High research activity | Doctoral universities with high research activity, the second Carnegie research tier, below R1 but above the doctoral/professional category. |
| Doctoral/Professional | Doctoral or professional-practice degrees | Universities that award research or professional-practice doctorates but fall below the research-activity thresholds for R1 or R2. |
920 institutions
Page 6 of 20Eastern New Mexico University - Roswell Campus
Roswell, New Mexico
Eastern Oklahoma State College
Wilburton, Oklahoma
Eastern Shore Community College
Melfa, Virginia
Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College
Moorefield, West Virginia
Eastern Wyoming College
Torrington, Wyoming
Eastwick College - Hackensack
Hackensack, New Jersey
Edgecombe Community College
Tarboro, North Carolina
Edison State Community College
Piqua, Ohio
El Camino Community College District
Torrance, California
El Paso Community College
El Paso, Texas
Elgin Community College
Elgin, Illinois
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Ellsworth Community College
Iowa Falls, Iowa
Emory University - Oxford College
Oxford, Georgia
Ensign College
Salt Lake City, Utah
Enterprise State Community College
Enterprise, Alabama
Erie Community College
Buffalo, New York
Essex County College
Newark, New Jersey
Estrella Mountain Community College
Avondale, Arizona
ETI Technical College of Niles
Niles, Ohio
Everett Community College
Everett, Washington
Evergreen Valley College
San Jose, California
Fayetteville Technical Community College
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Finger Lakes Community College
Canandaigua, New York
Flathead Valley Community College
Kalispell, Montana
Fletcher Technical Community College
Schriever, Louisiana
Flint Hills Technical College
Emporia, Kansas
Florence - Darlington Technical College
Florence, South Carolina
Folsom Lake College
Folsom, California
Forsyth Technical Community College
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Fort Hays State University - Northwest Kansas Technical College
Goodland, Kansas
Fort Hays Tech North Central
Beloit, Kansas
Fort Scott Community College
Fort Scott, Kansas
Fox College
Tinley Park, Illinois
Fox Valley Technical College
Appleton, Wisconsin
Frank Phillips College
Borger, Texas
Frederick Community College
Frederick, Maryland
Fresno City College
Fresno, California
Front Range Community College
Westminster, Colorado
Fullerton College
Fullerton, California
Fulton - Montgomery Community College
Johnstown, New York
Gadsden State Community College
Gadsden, Alabama
Galveston College
Galveston, Texas
Garden City Community College
Garden City, Kansas
Garrett College
McHenry, Maryland
Gaston College
Dallas, North Carolina
Gateway Community and Technical College
Florence, Kentucky
GateWay Community College
Phoenix, Arizona
Frequently asked questions
- What is a Community College institution under the Carnegie Classification?
- Community colleges are public, two-year institutions whose highest award is an associate degree or certificate, classified under the Carnegie associate-degree categories. This dataset tracks 920 of them in the United States.
- What are the largest Community College in the U.S.?
- By total enrollment, the largest are Ivy Tech Community College, Lone Star College System, Dallas College, NVCC, and Houston Community College.
- What is the typical graduation rate and net price for these institutions?
- The median graduation rate among institutions that report one is 37%, and the median average net price is $8,169. Figures come from IPEDS and College Scorecard.
Related categories
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Data: IPEDS Fall 2025–26 provisional · College Scorecard (June 2026 release). All sources & release dates →
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