Data story · October 21, 2026 · All data stories
Many people picture a college student as 18 to 22, full time and living on campus. At community colleges, which enroll millions of students, that picture fits fewer students than not.
The picture
For each type of college, the bars show the typical (median) college’s share of undergraduates who attend part time, who are 25 or older, and who are the first in their family to go to college (the last measured among students who received federal aid).
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (Creative Commons Attribution), most recent release; medians across colleges computed by MajorPays and not weighted by enrollment.
What stands out
- Public two-year colleges: the typical college has 53% of undergraduates attending part time (middle half of colleges: 37% to 64%), 26% aged 25 or older, and 48% first-generation among aided students.
- Public four-year colleges: 17% part time, 16% aged 25 or older and 38% first-generation.
- Private nonprofit four-year colleges: 5% part time, 10% aged 25 or older and 32% first-generation.
- Family income also differs. The median of the median family incomes of aided students is about $22,001 at public two-year colleges, $34,899 at public four-year colleges and $44,762 at private nonprofit four-year colleges.
- Retention differs too. The share of first-time, full-time students who return for a second year is about 64% at the typical public two-year college, 76% at public four-year colleges and 78% at private nonprofit four-year colleges.
What this does and does not say
These are typical figures for colleges of each type, and individual colleges differ widely (compare the middle half of public two-year colleges above). Part-time and older students are less likely to appear in the usual completion statistics, which follow first-time, full-time students, so a lower graduation rate at a community college partly reflects who enrolls and how, not only how well students are served. First-generation and family-income figures describe students who received federal aid, not all students. None of these numbers measures quality.
The community college guide explains completion measures, and school profiles on MajorPays show these student characteristics beside graduation, cost and earnings. MajorPays does not rank schools.
How we computed this
For each college we use the Scorecard’s share of undergraduates attending part time, share aged 25 or older, share of aided students who are first-generation, median family income of aided students and full-time retention rate, and take the median (and the middle half) across colleges within each type.
MajorPays shares information, not advice. Figures are group statistics from U.S. government sources, not predictions for any person, and MajorPays does not rank schools or places. See our methodology.