Side by side, never added together

Universities and colleges

Higher education in each region, measured against the same Index. Each region’s population is its own cohort, drawn from that country’s own register and scored against the same Index. There is no figure across regions: it would be a number about whichever region has more sites.

Index 12.1 · Census Q4 2026

3 populations, 3 measured

Universities and colleges in each region

RegionPopulation Median and spreadScanned Gated
United States US Colleges and Universities
Every active, degree-granting US college and university that takes part in federal student aid, as IPEDS reports it.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
59 · 16–79
3553/3954 1283 of 3553
United Kingdom UK Universities and Higher Education Providers
Every registered higher education provider in England, and the universities and colleges of higher education in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Office for Students (England); Medr (Wales); Scottish Funding Council (Scotland); NI Direct, Northern Ireland Executive (Northern Ireland)
59 · 29–76
368/460 123 of 368
United Kingdom UK Further Education Colleges
The general further education and sixth-form colleges of the four nations.
Department for Education (Get Information About Schools); Scottish Funding Council; Medr; NI Direct, Northern Ireland Executive
60 · 16–76
226/284 86 of 226

Purple line is the median. Grey band is the middle half of the range. A population drawn from a different kind of register is not the same population: the UK’s schools are schools, where the US cohort is the districts that run them.

Comparisons

The other comparisons