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A Military Times analysis using data from the Veterans Affiars Department for fiscal 2014. Individual schools within a system, displayed in italics, would have ranked in the top 50 without being combined as part of the parent institution.
| Rank (previous) |
School or system | Headquarters or main campus | Sector | Level | GI Bill recipients | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | University of Phoenix | Phoenix | For-profit | 4-year | 49,179 | $344,517,094 |
| University of Phoenix (Online) | 23,816 | $141,312,858 | ||||
| University of Phoenix (San Diego) | 4,082 | $35,759,820 | ||||
| University of Phoenix (Costa Mesa) | 3,968 | $36,307,525 | ||||
| 2 (2) | California Community College System | Sacramento, Calif. | Public | 2-year or less | 19,181 | $10,508,964 |
| 3 (4) | University System of Maryland | Adelphi, Md. | Public | 4-year | 16,556 | $63,730,826 |
| University of Maryland University College | 10,019 | $36,790,294 | ||||
| University of Maryland University College European Division | 2,904 | $7,026,982 | ||||
| 4 (3) | DeVry University Inc. | Downers Grove, Ill. | For-profit | 4-year | 15,625 | $126,854,002 |
| DeVry University Online | 3,448 | $25,621,170 | ||||
| 5 (5) | Education Management Corp. | Pittsburgh | For-profit | 4-year | 14,750 | $156,295,119 |
| 6 (8) | American Public Education Inc. [1] | Charles Town, W.Va. | For-profit | 4-year | 14,508 | $54,352,525 |
| 7 (6) | ITT Educational Services Inc. | Carmel, Ind. | For-profit | 4-year | 12,538 | $172,141,267 |
| 8 (7) | Virginia Community College System | Richmond, Va. | Public | 2-year or less | 10,870 | $26,129,886 |
| 9 (23) | Strayer Education Inc. | Herndon, Va. | For-profit | 4-year | 10,348 | $64,725,294 |
| 10 (11) | Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges | Olympia, Wash. | Public | 4-year | 9,565 | $30,585,493 |
| 11 (9) | Career Education Corp. | Schaumburg, Ill. | For-profit | 4-year | 9,296 | $86,428,509 |
| Colorado Technical University (Online) | 3,303 | $28,718,974 | ||||
| 12 (10) | Bridgepoint Education | San Diego | For-profit | 4-year | 9,068 | $44,524,830 |
| Ashford University (Online) | 8,859 | $42,816,746 | ||||
| 13 (14) | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University | Daytona Beach, Fla. | Private | 4-year | 8,707 | $55,816,957 |
| 14 (16) | State University System of Florida | Tallahassee, Fla. | Public | 4-year | 7,833 | $42,606,170 |
| 15 (15) | North Carolina Community College System | Raleigh, N.C. | Public | 2-year or less | 7,766 | $10,254,131 |
| 16 (12) | State University of New York System | Albany, N.Y. | Public | 4-year | 7,348 | $28,939,700 |
| 17 (22) | Liberty University | Lynchburg, Va. | Private | 4-year | 7,327 | $29,345,246 |
| 18 (17) | Kaplan Higher Education Corp. | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | For-profit | 4-year | 7,034 | $42,764,058 |
| Kaplan University (Fort Lauderdale) | 4,856 | $26,556,696 | ||||
| 19 (19) | California State University | Long Beach, Calif. | Public | 4-year | 6,597 | $30,438,389 |
| 20 (20) | University of Texas System | Austin, Texas | Public | 4-year | 6,553 | $41,164,286 |
| 21 (13) | University System of Georgia | Atlanta | Public | 4-year | 6,503 | $30,588,669 |
| 22 (18) | State University and Community College System of Tennessee | Nashville, Tenn. | Public | 4-year | 6,418 | $28,308,454 |
| 23 (21) | Corinthian Colleges Inc. | Santa Ana, Calif. | For-profit | 4-year | 6,017 | $62,193,282 |
| 24 (24) | University of North Carolina | Chapel Hill, N.C. | Public | 4-year | 5,642 | $30,910,331 |
| 25 (25) | Universal Technical Institute Inc. | Scottsdale, Ariz. | For-profit | 2-year or less | 5,607 | $72,134,389 |
| 26 (28) | Alamo Colleges | San Antonio | Public | 2-year or less | 5,437 | $6,695,564 |
| 27 (26) | Saint Leo University | St. Leo, Fla. | Private | 4-year | 4,856 | $24,335,421 |
| 28 (37) | Central Texas College | Killeen, Texas | Public | 2-year or less | 4,808 | $6,572,958 |
| Central Texas College (Texas) | 3,476 | $3,753,175 | ||||
| 29 (35) | Arizona Board of Regents | Phoenix | Public | 4-year | 4,789 | $43,420,550 |
| 30 (29) | Webster University (St. Louis) | St. Louis | Private | 4-year | 4,548 | $20,283,090 |
| 31 (32) | Colorado Community College System | Denver | Public | 2-year or less | 4,446 | $12,582,293 |
| 32 (27) | ECPI Colleges | Virginia Beach, Va. | For-profit | 4-year | 4,431 | $49,243,819 |
| 33 (33) | National University System | La Jolla, Calif. | Private | 4-year | 4,418 | $33,041,239 |
| National University (San Diego) | 4,363 | $32,480,019 | ||||
| 34 (36) | Maricopa Community College District | Tempe, Ariz. | Public | 2-year or less | 4,171 | $6,977,784 |
| 35 (40) | Texas A&M University System | College Station, Texas | Public | 4-year | 4,132 | $23,784,694 |
| 36 (34) | South Carolina Technical College System | Columbia, S.C. | Public | 2-year or less | 4,108 | $10,671,217 |
| 37 (31) | Minnesota State Colleges and Universities | St. Paul, Minn. | Public | 4-year | 4,061 | $14,922,208 |
| 38 (30) | Technical College System of Georgia | Atlanta | Public | 2-year or less | 3,912 | $6,634,113 |
| 39 (44) | Columbia Southern Education Group Inc. | Orange Beach, Ala. | For-profit | 4-year | 3,707 | $10,547,602 |
| Columbia Southern University | 3,624 | $10,193,760 | ||||
| 40 (39) | Park University Distance Learning | Parkville, Mo. | Private | 4-year | 3,590 | $13,500,981 |
| 41 (38) | Columbia College | Columbia, Mo. | Private | 4-year | 3,496 | $11,136,240 |
| 42 (41) | University of Wisconsin System | Madison, Wis. | Public | 4-year | 3,298 | $19,708,645 |
| 43 (48) | Grand Canyon University | Phoenix | For-profit | 4-year | 3,289 | $17,174,696 |
| 44 (43) | City University of New York | New York | Public | 4-year | 3,266 | $13,638,892 |
| 45 | Alabama Community College System | Montgomery, Ala. | Public | 2-year or less | 3,164 | $8,086,848 |
| 46 | University of Alaska System of Higher Education | Fairbanks, Alaska | Public | 4-year | 3,037 | $10,921,415 |
| 47 (46) | The Pennsylvania State University | University Park, Pa. | Public | Doctoral | 3,009 | $30,965,876 |
| 48 | Full Sail University | Winter Park, Fla. | For-profit | 4-year | 2,976 | $41,133,178 |
| 49 | Nevada System of Higher Education | Las Vegas, Nev. | Public | 4-year | 2,886 | $8,261,703 |
| 50 (45) | Troy University | Troy, Ala. | Public | Doctoral | 2,873 | $11,246,965 |
| [1] American Military University is part of American Public Education Inc. Veterans Affairs Department data did not distinguish it from its parent company, so precise student, course and dollar counts were not available. | ||||||