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Change in Percentage of Undergraduate Students Who Were 25 and Older, 1987 to 2015

Almanac 2017
August 13, 2017

The share of undergraduate students who were 25 and older has dropped since 2011, and has dropped even more significantly since the 1990s. In the fall of 2015, the percentage of undergraduates who were 25 and older fell below 30 percent for the first time since complete data were collected beginning in 1987.


Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store

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The share of undergraduate students who were 25 and older has dropped since 2011, and has dropped even more significantly since the 1990s. In the fall of 2015, the percentage of undergraduates who were 25 and older fell below 30 percent for the first time since complete data were collected beginning in 1987.



Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store.


YearNumberAll age-known undergrads 25 and older
19873,692,38335.4%
19913,913,46135.5%
19934,219,11036.2%
19954,203,57136.2%
19974,118,29234.8%
19993,927,26732.5%
20014,177,08132.0%
20034,413,17531.6%
20054,450,63830.8%
20074,512,00430.1%
20095,266,94931.5%
20115,532,13431.9%
20135,202,18630.4%
20154,888,48628.8%


Note: Data cover all undergraduate students who enrolled at degree-granting institutions in the United States that are eligible to participate in the Title IV federal student-aid program during the years covered by the data. No data were available from 1989. Students whose age was unknown were subtracted from the totals before percentages were calculated.

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Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data

A version of this article appeared in the August 18, 2017, issue.
Read other items in this Students package.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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