• $14,915 is the average tuition, room and board (for in-state students) at the nation’s four-year public colleges and universities for an entire academic year, more than double the amount from 1990.

• $40,640 is the average tuition, room and board at the nation’s four-year private colleges and universities for an entire academic year, more than double the amount from 1990.

• Females comprised the majority of college students, numbering about 10.5 million compared to 7.9 million males in fall 2009.

• America spends $7.6 billion on clothes and $2.4 billion in bookstores on average every August.

• 19.1 million is the projected number of students enrolled in the nation’s colleges and universities this fall. This is up from 13.8 million 20 years ago.

• 3.3 million is the number of college degrees expected to be conferred in the 2010-11 school year.

• $75,621 is the average starting salary offered to bachelor’s degree candidates in petroleum engineering in 2008, among the highest of any field of study. At the other end of the spectrum were those majoring in a social science, who were offered an average of $39,476.