The most recent data on student educational goals, Perkins, first-generation, Adult Education/English language learners, veterans, and foster youth is in the year 2022-2023. All other data is from 2023-2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
During the 2023-2024 academic year, more than 2.1 million students were enrolled in the California Community Colleges system. In the previous academic year, the number was about 1.9 million.
Source: Data from DataVista (22-23) and DataMart (23-24)
The race/ethnicity of students across the system are as follows: 48% Hispanic, 23% White, 11% Asian, 5.6% African American, 4% Multi-ethnic, 2% Filipino, less than 1% American Indian and Alaskan Native, less than 1% Pacific Islander, and about 5% unknown.
Fifty-three percent of students are female, 44% are male, 1.2% are non-binary. The gender of 2% of students is unknown.
Approximately 58% of California community college students are traditional aged (24 years old or younger) and about 42% are adult students (25 years old or older). The system uses the Perkins Economically Disadvantaged metric as a measure of students’ income status based on their receipt of financial aid and other social benefits. In 2022-2023, 62% of students across the system are classified as Perkins Economically Disadvantaged, 37% are not Perkins Economically Disadvantaged*.
Source: Data comes from DataMart, with the exception of Perkins data, which comes from DataVista 22-23
The California Community Colleges serve a large number of students with unique educational goals and needs, who have been historically underrepresented and under-served in higher education.
In 2022-2023, 35% of students identify as first-generation in their family to attend college, 13% are Adult Education/English language learners, 2% are veterans, and 2% are foster youth.
Source: DataVista 22-23
During the Fall 2023 term, about 26% of students were full-time (12 or more units) and 64% were part-time (less than 12 units). 10% of students were enrolled in non-credit units only.
Source: DataMart
In 2022-2023, 57% of students are enrolled with a goal of earning a two-year and/or four-year degree.
Source: DataVista 22-23
In 2022-2023, approximately 17% of students are enrolled with a goal of building skills to enter or advance in their careers. These students are classified as “short-term career students” and may be pursuing either a for-credit or non-credit program.
Source: DataVista 22-23
During the Fall 2023 term, approximately 11% of students had a special admit status. This includes students who were also enrolled in K-12 education and adult education students without a high school diploma.
Source: DataMart
