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Percentages of Undergraduate Students Who Were 25 and Older, by Gender, Sector, and Region, Fall 2015

Almanac 2017

August 13, 2017

More than a quarter of all undergraduate students in the United States were 25 or older in the fall of 2015, with women greatly outnumbering men among undergraduates in that age group. Among older students, women were more likely than men to be ages 35 to 64. Among sectors, four-year for-profit institutions had by far the highest percentage of undergraduates 25 and older. Among regions, the Rocky Mountains states had the highest share of older students in the undergraduate population.

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Overall representation by gender

Representation	Number 25 and older	Share of all undergraduates
All	4,888,486	28.7%
Men	1,985,370	11.7%
Women	2,903,116	17.1%

Age distribution of 25-and-older undergraduates by gender

Representation	25-29	30-34	35-39	40-49	50-64	65 and older
All	37.7%	21.2%	14.0%	17.0%	8.9%	1.1%
Men	41.1%	21.9%	13.4%	15.0%	7.5%	1.2%
Women	35.4%	20.8%	14.5%	18.4%	9.8%	1.1%

By sector

Institution type	Number 25 and older	All	Men	Women
4-year public	1,313,149	19.0%	18.6%	19.3%
4-year private nonprofit	636,294	23.0%	21.1%	24.4%
4-year for-profit	616,006	72.8%	73.0%	72.6%
2-year public	2,176,005	35.0%	31.8%	37.5%
2-year private nonprofit	24,843	49.6%	36.0%	55.3%
2-year for-profit	122,189	54.3%	54.4%	54.3%

By region

Area of U.S.	Number 25 and older	All	Men	Women
New England (Conn., Me., Mass., N.H., R.I., Vt.)	194,561	24.1%	20.4%	27.0%
Mideast (Del., D.C., Md., N.J., N.Y, Pa.)	567,480	23.7%	20.8%	25.9%
Great Lakes (Ill., Ind., Mich., Ohio, Wis.)	635,914	26.2%	23.2%	28.7%
Plains (Iowa, Kan., Minn., Mo., Neb., N.D., S.D.)	342,019	26.8%	24.2%	28.9%
Southeast (Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., Ky., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va.)	1,137,975	28.5%	26.5%	30.0%
Southwest (Ariz., N.M., Okla., Tex.)	728,255	32.6%	29.6%	34.9%
Rocky Mountains (Colo., Idaho, Mont., Utah, Wyo.)	269,896	36.5%	35.0%	37.7%
Far West (Alaska, Calif., Hawaii, Nev., Ore., Wash.)	1,012,384	32.2%	31.6%	32.6%

Note: Data cover all undergraduate students enrolled at degree-granting institutions in the United States that are eligible to participate in the Title IV federal student-aid program. Of such institutions, 4,271 enroll undergraduate students. Percentages may not sum to totals because of rounding.

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