Reply Michigan ranks 27th with 1.49 million K–12 students, 900 public school districts, including local education authorities and public school academies. (Image Credit (Lucélia Ribeiro/Wikimedia Commons cc-by-sa-2.0.)) Education in the U.S. is the second largest higher education system. Not only is it large but provides diversity through institution types. This diversity offers students options to specialize in a variety of academic disciplines and even gain employment training. More than 4,000 accredited institutions make up U.S. higher education in the United States. One of the most attractive features of the U.S. higher education system is the flexibility it provides through the number and diversity of institution types it encompasses.