Nationally, ‘traditional’ college students are on the rise.
A recent report by the Urban Wire Institute discussed how, on a national scale, traditional college students (those 24 years old and under, and enrolled full-time) are actually a large percentage of the college population, and that percentage has risen in the past few years. The Institute found that nationally, 69% of college students were 24 years old and under, and only 37% of college students were enrolled part-time.
This is not the case for Utah.
Utah has a larger proportion of nontraditional students than the nation. Only about 62% of students attending institutions in the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) are age 24 and under, with the remaining 38% age 25 and over.
Traditional-age students (24 & under) vs nontraditional-age students (25 & over) at USHE institutions, Fall 2013
Also, half of all USHE students attend part time, as of 2013. This number has actually increased from 47% in Fall 2010 to 50% in Fall 2013. This is another area in which Utah is different from the nation: Utah’s rate of part-time college participation is rising, while nationally more students are attending full-time.
