Taking a Closer Look at Young Community College Students and Bachelor's Graduates in Florida

In the ever-evolving higher education landscape, more and more community colleges have launched bachelor’s programs aimed at increasing access for historically underserved populations. Advocates for community college bachelor’s (CCB) programs often address concerns that these programs might pull prospective bachelor’s students away from universities by citing the higher average age of CCB students. Typically, community college bachelor’s programs have primarily served older students, with the median student being 30 or older in both Florida and Washington. However, while still not the typical CCB student, some younger students are now pursuing and earning bachelor’s degrees at their local community college. Recent data from Florida reveals what young Floridians are studying and how their presence is shifting the breakdown of CCB students and graduates in the Sunshine State.

2020-21 CCB Graduates, by Year and Age Group

For starters, while more students in their 20s are earning CCB degrees, graduates are still predominantly in their 30s and and older. Both the number of CCB graduates overall and the number of CCB graduates under 30 have been growing over the past several years. However, it should be noted that in the first few years of data available to our team, there were no CCB graduates under 25. In fact, the first year with any graduates under 25 was 2016-17, though they are excluded from the chart below, because there were fewer than ten graduates in that age group, so data were suppressed. Starting in 2017-18, the under 25 group has grown with every passing year. In 2020-21, the most recent year of data available, the number CCB graduates under 25 reached over 1,000, comprising ten percent of total graduates that year. However, this cohort graduated during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so we should continue to observe new data as it is released to determine whether the number and share of CCB graduates under 25 continues to grow.

2020-21 CCB Graduates Age 20-24, by Area of Study

Next, let’s look at what these young CCB graduates in 2020-21 studied. Nearly half earned degrees in business, including everything from accounting to organizational leadership, making this by far the largest category. The next most common degree for young students was education at 14 percent of graduates, followed by computer/information sciences (10 percent) and nursing (8 percent). Overall, nursing graduates make up the largest share of CCB graduates in the state; however, students under 25 comprise a very small share of these graduates. It’s possible that some of these degree programs with significant hands-on or work-based components may have been hampered by the pandemic across all age groups. BSN completion programs for registered nurses, like those in Florida College System institutions, are often completely online and could, therefore, have avoided some of the disruption of the quick pivot to online learning in spring 2020.

2021-22 CCB Students, by Area of Study and Age Group

When looking at enrolled students by age group and area of study, patterns arise revealing where younger students are more likely to enroll than older peers further along in their careers. On the one hand, students under 25 make up a relatively small percentage of students in health professions programs, agriculture, and legal professions (e.g., paralegal studies). On the other hand, these young students make up at least one-third of all students in communications, communications technologies, visual and performing arts (largely graphic design), and transportation/materials moving. Overall, these data suggest that young students have a particularly strong presence in tech-focused CCB programs.

2021-22 CCB Students Under Age 25, by Area of Study

Now, let’s look at the most recent year of data available on students who were enrolled in CCB programs but hadn’t yet graduated. As with 2020-21 graduates, the plurality of CCB students under 25 in 2021-22 were enrolled in business programs, reaching half of all students in this age group. And similarly, the next largest groups were students in education, computer/information sciences, and nursing.

Overall, these data make it clear that CCB programs in Florida still primarily serve students well above the average age of a “traditional” student who enrolls after high school. Students under 25 still make up a relatively small percentage of community college bachelor’s students and graduates in Florida. Yet as time goes on, it’s true that more of these young students have taken advantage of bachelor’s programs at their local community college that are closely tied to workforce needs in their local community where both they and their college have deep roots.