Today's Students come from all walks of life, taking charge of their own educational pursuits.
Their journeys to complete a postsecondary education are as diverse
as their backgrounds and lived experiences.
-
More diverse in age, race, and income level
34% are older than 25, 43% are not white alone, and the increasingly first-generation and low-income student population experience challenges with basic needs insecurity.
43%
identify as a race other than white
-
Balancing enrollment and employment
31% are enrolled part-time, and students who are enrolled part-time are typically working more hours per week than their full-time peers.
31%
are enrolled part-time
-
Juggling family responsibilities beyond the classroom
Parenting students make up nearly a quarter of undergraduate students, and nearly a third of graduate students.
≈25%
are parenting students
-
Identify as first-generation
Identify as first-generation
55%
are first-generation
What we should know about today's students
- Today's students are more diverse in age, race, and income level than ever
- 34% are older than 25 and 43% identify as a race other than white
- Many students enrolled in higher education also balance employment
- 31% are enrolled part-time
- As parents and caregivers, today's students juggle responsibilities inside and outside the classroom
- Nearly one-quarter of undergraduates, and nearly one-third enrolled in graduate school are parenting students
- Students in college today bring to class their diverse identities, life experiences, beliefs, and backgrounds
- 55% identify as first-generation
- 4.9% are veterans
- 17% identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, queer, or questioning
- 1.7% of undergraduate and graduate students identified their gender as transgender, nonbinary, or questioning
Race and ethnicity of today's students in higher education
Proportion of students who identify as
- White: 48.4%
- Hispanic or Latino: 21.1%
- Black: 13.3%
- Asian: 7.2%
- American Indian or Alaskan Native: 1%
- Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander: 0.7%
- More than one race: 48.8%
How do Today’s Students differ from yesterday’s students?
Two-Year Enrollment
Undergraduate students attend a two-year college
1980
Today
First-generation students
1980
Today
Reference
heri.ucla.edu/PDFs/pubs/TFS/Special/Monographs/FirstInMyFamily.pdf (p. 16)
Race and Ethnicity
Pell Grants
Students identify as a race other than white
1980
Today
Pell Grant recipients
1980
Today
Parenting Students
KEY - year (number of student parents) percentage of the undergraduate population
2004 (3.7M)
2012 (4.8M)
2016 (3.8M)
Please note that the data listed here should not be directly compared to those listed above as the years are not aligned.
Although there was a rapid increase in enrollment between 2004 and 2012, the numbers have since declined.
How do Today’s Students attend college?
Institution Types
0%
cof undergraduate students attend a two-year institution
0%
of undergraduate students attend a public college or universityLearning Modality
0%
of undergraduate students have taken at least one online course
0%
of undergraduate students were exclusively enrolled in distance education during the peak of the pandemic
0%
of students transfer to at least one different institution in their postsecondary careerTransfer Students
-
Students lose, on average, one semester's worth of coursework when they transfer colleges.
-
Those at two-year colleges are the most likely to transfer at least once.
-
The most common transfer type is from a public two-year institution to a public four-year institution.