Membership Data

CIC’s membership includes more than 700 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils of independent colleges, and other higher education affiliates. Members represent a variety of locations, missions, programs, resources, sizes and interests.

Information on this page is updated as of June 30, 2026, and included in the 2025–26 CIC Annual Report.

Overall Membership

CIC Institutions by Enrollment Size (Undergraduate FTE): 19% over 3,000; 17% 2,001-3,000; 39% 1,000-2,000; 25% under 1,000
CIC Institutions with a Distinctive Mission: 476 Religiously Affiliated Institutions; 111 Minority Serving Institutions; 30 Single Gender Institutions; Minority Serving Institutions include any institution that is designated as a Historically Black College or University, a Predominantly Black Institution, a Hispanic Serving Institution, an Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institution, an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution, a Native American Serving Nontribal Institution, or a tribal college.
CIC Institutions by Region: 50 New England; 119 Mid-Atlantic; 161 South; 181 Midwest; 73 West; 47 Far West; 20 International
Highest Degree Offered at CIC Institutions: 49% Doctoral Degree; 38% Master's Degree; 13% Bachelor's Degree
CIC Network Participating Institutions - AI Ready: 177; Belong: 47; Graduate Network: 53; NetVUE: 342; OCSC: 338; CIC-TEP: 412

Carnegie Classifications

In 2025, new Carnegie Classifications were released. CIC members are represented across the institutional classifications and demonstrate strong outcomes in the new student access and earnings “opportunity” classification.

2025 Carnegie Institutional Classification of CIC Members

The most recent Carnegie Classifications were released in Spring 2025. CIC members in 2025-26 are represented in most of the 31 descriptive Institutional Classifications which are built on three pillars: award level focus, academic program mix, and size. CIC members fall into many of these categories. The ten classifications with the most members are shown below.

Mixed: Baccalaureate45
Mixed: Undergraduate/Graduate-Master’s Small25
Mixed: Undergraduate/Graduate-Doctorate Small21
Mixed: Undergraduate/Graduate-Doctorate Medium15
Professions-Focused: Baccalaureate Small111
Professions-Focused: Undergraduate/Graduate-Master’s Small76
Professions-Focused: Undergraduate/Graduate-Master’s Large/Medium25
Professions-Focused: Undergraduate/Graduate-Doctorate Small48
Professions-Focused: Undergraduate/Graduate-Doctorate Medium61
Special Focus: Arts and Sciences125
Special Focus: Nursing19
Special Focus: Other Health Professions18
Other Institutional Classification42

2025 Carnegie Student Access and Earnings “Opportunity” Classification

2025 Carnegie Opportunity Classification: How are CIC members supporting student access and earnings? High Earnings: 13% low access and 13% high access; Medium Earnings: 27% low access and 43% high access; Low Earnings: 1% low access and 3% high access - CIC members fall primarily into the Medium Earnings category, and 77 are "Opportunity Colleges" with high access and high earnings. "Opportunity" institutions exceed the thresholds for higher access and higher earnings.

CIC Membership Survey

Every three years, CIC administers a survey to member presidents to better understand their needs and how CIC can best support them. In 2025, 13 percent of member institutions responded to the survey; they were representative of CIC’s overall membership. All responses indicated that CIC programs and services are valuable and responsive to current issues in independent higher education. In particular, respondents found professional development programs such as the Presidents Institute and the Institute for Chief Academic Officers, networks such as the Tuition Exchange Program and NetVUE, and research such as the KIT and FIT reports to be important.

In 2025, members noted the following issues to be top of mind:

  • The financial model for higher education and financial health and sustainability
  • The public perception of higher education
  • Navigating federal policy and legislation
  • Adapting to technological change