Total undergraduate fall enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by attendance status, sex of student, and control and level of institution: Selected years, 1970 through 2029 shows the following numbers in 2018 for reference:
| Control of institution | Number of undergraduates | Percentage of undergraduates |
|---|---|---|
| All | 16,610,235 | 100.0% |
| Public | 13,049,326 | 78.6% |
| Private | 3,560,909 | 21.4% |
| Private Non-Profit | 2,821,653 | 17.0% |
| Private For-Profit | 739,256 | 4.4% |
It is easy to tell whether a public college (other than one that is open-admission by policy) has extra capacity to absorb additional students if its competitor private colleges closed by noting how selective it is. Less selective colleges are the most likely to have extra capacity. The more selective ones would simply become more competitive to gain admission to, probably resulting in some “push down” mentioned previously (obviously if a private college that is less selective closed, then a more selective public college would not see “push down”).