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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
