Today, we are digging into a topic outside of our regular sandbox: Institution URLs and the type of information they can provide on an institution. To produce this post, we have gathered the data from the ListedTech database to sort the domains used by over 77,000 institutions across the globe.
Global HigherEd Domain Name Trends by Region
Our database of 77,000+ institutions allowed us to discover some interesting facts:
- Africa: Most countries use a mix of domains, including territorial,
.org, and.edu.xx. However, nations like the Central African Republic use.orgexclusively. - Europe: Institutions heavily favor unique territorial domains (e.g.,
.frfor France,.itfor Italy). - Asia and Middle East: The
.edu.xxformat is the most popular across these regions, followed closely by.ac.xx(preferred in Japan, Indonesia, India, and Thailand). - Latin America: Most institutions use
.edu.xx. Panama seems to be the only country with.edu.paand.ac.paused concurrently. - Oceania: Institutions in this region do not follow one standard. Therefore, we see a multitude of domain options:
.edu.xx,.edu,.ac.xxin addition to some territorial domains (like .fm for Micronesia). The Solomon Islands and Tonga institutions use equally.edu.xxand.ac.xxfor their domain names. - United States: For this country, we observe a difference between HigherEd and K-12. Universities and colleges select
.edumore often while school districts turn to.org.
Download the complete list of domains used by institutions around the world.
Number of Institutions per Domain
We also dug into the domains without linking them to a specific country. We have found that the domain .edu (including territorial .edu like .edu.gm) are selected more often than: .org, the territorial domains (Others in the graph, like .fi, .no, .li, etc.), .com, .ac, and .net.
Why Do Few HigherEd Institutions Use Extended Domains?
Despite being available since 2012, extended domains are rarely used by institutions because established domains (like bu.edu) have significantly more brand traction, are easier to remember, and are perceived as more trustworthy by university boards than extended formats (like boston.university).
Average Enrolment Size per Domain
We also decided to look at the average enrolment size per domain. For the HigherEd institutions, we see, without big surprise, that Asian universities represent 40% of the top 10. The rest of this group comprises countries from all over the world: Italy (.it), Turkey (.edu.tr), Mexico (.mx), Argentina (.edu.ar), France (.fr) and Australia (.edu.au). The Top10 have average enrolment of more than 11,000 students.
Looking at school districts, we see that .ca dominates the other domain names for the enrolment size. This is caused by the fact that, in comparison to the US, the Canadian system usually sees fewer school districts (Canada has fewer private schools compared to the US) and that 70% of school districts in Canada use .ca for their domain.
Frequently Asked Questions About Domains Used in Education
Globally, the .edu domain (including territorial variations like .edu.gm) is the most frequently selected domain for higher education institutions, surpassing .org, .com, .ac, and .net.
In the United States, school districts predominantly use .org because the .edu domain is restricted to post-secondary institutions. In Canada, 70% of school districts use the territorial .ca domain.
Asian universities represent 40% of the top 10 domains with the highest average enrollment. The top 10 domains globally have an average enrollment exceeding 11,000 students.