The number of students attending private and public universities are actually pretty close (for 4-year schools): "Nearly 7.5 million students will attend public

The number of students attending private and public universities are actually pretty close (for 4-year schools): "Nearly 7.5 million students will attend public 2-year institutions (source), and 0.5 million will attend private 2-year colleges (source). Some 8.2 million students are expected to attend public 4-year institutions (source), and about 5.6 million will attend private 4-year institutions (source)." http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372 http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372