Most post-secondary schools can be described as pub­lic or pri­vate, two-year or four-year.

Pub­lic insti­tu­tions are state sup­ported. Pri­vate for-profit insti­tu­tions are busi­nesses. Pri­vate not-for-profit insti­tu­tions are inde­pen­dent – for instance, the school might have been estab­lished by a church or through local com­mu­nity dona­tions rather than by the state government.

Four-year insti­tu­tions offer bachelor’s degrees, and some offer advanced degrees. Two-year insti­tu­tions offer associate’s degrees. Less-than-two-year insti­tu­tions offer train­ing and award cer­tifi­cates of com­ple­tion. For more infor­ma­tion on detailed descrip­tions of pro­grams, click here.