The Typical College Student Is Not Who You Think

As a fight over the future of elite higher education consumes university leaders and politicians, most college students live in a very different world with very different challenges.

Community College

• 43 percent of undergraduates attend community college
• About 75 percent of community college students are enrolled part time

Demographics

• 1.4 million undergraduate students with children are single mothers
• 9 % of US undergraduate population
• 25 percent of all undergraduate students live with their parents
• Only 16 % live on campus

Online Learning

• 10.3 million students take at least some classes online
• 26 percent of students take classes exclusively online
• up from 11% 10 years ago.

Student Debt

• The average student is $19,000 in debt
• Up from $13,000 two decades ago, with adjustments for inflation
• 10.8 million students owe more than $44,000
• Two-thirds of student loan debt belong to women
• Black women have the highest debt load, with an average of $33,000.
• 3 X  the amount  of white men are carrying, and $15,000 more than white women
• About a third of all undergraduate students received a Pell Grant

Success

• 41 million people (12% of the US Population) attended college but never graduated

Blinder, A. (2025, August 25). The Typical College Student is Not Who You Think. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/us/us-typical-college-student.html?unlocked_article_code=1.g08.-Fff.cnL2cbdddkMB&smid=url-share

ICCB Reports and Publications

Illinois Community College Board has a web page with all the reports they generate over the course of the year, along with archives of those same reports.  A great place to start looking for data regarding many of the initiatives on which community colleges in the state are focused.  Under Student Reports, you will find:

• Dual Credit
• Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment
• Distance Education
• Fall Enrollment Reports
• Follow-up Study of CTE Program Graduates
• High School to College Success Reports
• Licensure Pass Rates
• Spring Enrollment Reports

The Present and Future of Alternative Digital Credentials (ADCs)

EducationDive did a nice quick overview of the role of digital credentials in the future of education. (link to original report below)

The overview and the report review the changing role of credentials in higher education, and how they relate to skills credentialing in society comparing new digital credentials with traditional transcripts.  The report also has an appendices reviewing institutions throughout the world experimenting with ADC's and a list of vendors providing infrastructure for ADC's.

International Council for Open and Distance Education (2019). Report of the ICDE Working Group on The Present and Future of Alternative Digital Credentials (ADCs). Retrieved from  https://icde.memberclicks.net/assets/ICDE-ADC%20report-January%202019%20%28002%29.pdf

Online Course-taking and Student Outcomes in California Community Colleges

Abstract

This paper uses fixed effects analyses to estimate differences in student performance under online versus face-to-face course delivery formats in the California Community College system. On average, students have poorer outcomes in online courses in terms of the likelihood of course completion, course completion with a passing grade, and receiving an A or B. These estimates are robust across estimation techniques, different groups of students, and different types of classes. Accounting for differences in instructor characteristics (including through the use of instructor fixed effects) dampens but does not fully explain the estimated relationships. Online course-taking also has implications for downstream outcomes, although these effects are smaller. Students are more likely to repeat courses taken online, but are less likely to take new courses in the same subject following courses taken online.

Cassandra M. D. H., Friedmann, E & Hill M. (2018). Online course-taking and student outcomes in California community colleges. Education Finance and Policy, 13 (1), 42-71.