ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the types of institutions and quality indicators that key external stakeholders such as parents, prospective students, legislators, and media focus on when evaluating an institution. Within the general structure of higher education, there are two main categories of postsecondary institutions: public and private. Private institutions are further divided into two types: not-for-profit and for-profit. Public institutions include a variety of levels and program offerings, from two-year community colleges to doctorate-granting research-level universities. Doctoral Universities have been referred to in prior incarnations of the Carnegie Classification system as Doctorate-Granting, Doctoral/Research I, Doctoral/Research II, Doctoral/Research Extensive, and Doctoral/Research Intensive institutions. Special Focus Institutions offer specialized degree programs, such as a "concentration of degrees in a single field or set of related fields, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels". Community colleges and technical institutions educate students in liberal arts and technical/trade areas.
