85+ College Student Statistics For 2023 (Latest Facts)

Most students believe that college years are the best times of their life. You get innumerable opportunities to explore the world and unfold new concepts. Also, it is the age at which you learn some crucial life lessons. 

There are more than 20 million students in the colleges of the US. Most of the students take debt to complete their graduation, while more than 30% of the students reported that they graduated debt free. 

In the following article, I have compiled all the important statistics related to college students. If you are interested to know more about college students and their life, you can keep on reading. I have compiled essential stats related to college students’ health, mental health, debts, loans, etc. 

College Student Statistics (Top Picks)

College Student Statistics - Overview
  1. 63% of the students reported that they have enrolled in full-time colleges. 
  2. 20.2 million students have enrolled in college for the academic year 2021-2022.
  3. 9.6 million students in colleges are female students. 
  4. Only 14% of the students claimed that their physical health is excellent.
  5. More than 62% of the colleges have LGBTQ student groups and forums. 
  6. 26.9% of the college students reported that they generally suffer from cough and cold. 
  7. 64% of the students have to drop out of college due to severe mental health issues.
  8. 33% of college students reported that they either have an anxiety disorder or depression. 
  9. 22.3 million college students have borrowed loans from the band to complete their college education. 
  10. 80% of college students are found to be consuming alcohol
  11. 45% of college students like to exercise at least three times a week to maintain their physical health.

General College Student statistics

You might be surely interested to know about some general facts related to college students. In this section, I have compiled some interesting facts about college students in the US. 

  1. Only 4.7% of the undergraduate students enrolled in spring 2022 colleges. 
  2. Only 33.3% of the students graduate from college, out of the total students have enrolled in four-year colleges.
  3. In private colleges, students who are able to graduate from the 4-year colleges are around 52.8%.
  4. GS Motor Works is the most common scooter used by college students. 
  5. 62% of the college and universities reported that they have LGBTQ  students group. 
  6. According to 80% of college students reported that beer pong is the drinking game that is most popular. 
  7. It was reported that 25% of the community college students in the nation are reported to be enrolled in California community colleges. 
  8. 28% of the college at Harvard want to study social sciences. 
  9. In the year 2021, Harvard accepted 2,320 college students. 25.9% of them were Asian Americans.
  10. 15.1 million US college students are expected to go to public colleges by the end of the year 2030.
  11. The number of college students in the US will decline after the year 2025. 
  12. The enrollment of college students has declined over the past 10 years. 
  13. 63% of college students are enrolled in full-time education. 
  14. 43% of college students reported that digital technologies had helped them with their homework.
  15. According to the data from the BestColleges, in the fall of 2022, around 17.9 million students enrolled in degree-granting programs in the US.
  16. As per the research, it is seen of those who are 18 to 24 years old, 40% of them were enrolled in a post-secondary program.

Following is the complete data on total and projected undergraduate fall enrollment from 2000 to 2031.

YearEnrollment
200015,312,289 students
200517,487,475 students
201021,019,438 students
201519,988,204 students
202019,027,410 students
202519,567,692 students
203020,233,776 students

Source: Cappex, Sage Journal, Classes and careers, Foundation CC, Statista. 

College Student Demographics

At what age doest students join college? Which ethnicity of students is found mostly in colleges? You will surely find the answer to these questions and some other interesting facts and figures related to the college student demographics. 

  1. In the year 2020, of for-credit students that enrolled in community colleges in the United States, 60% of them were found to be girls.
  2. 9.6  million students in college were reported to be females.
  3. In the year 2022, only 6.5% of black students enrolled for the spring semester.
  4. There was a decrease in the college enrollment rate of Asian students by 85.9% in the fall semester 0f 2021. 
  5. 19.1% of Asians dropped out of college. 
  6. 27.1% of the students in college reported that they are slightly overweight. 

The following table contains the details about the weight of the college students

WeightPercentage Of Students
Very underweight1.1%
Slightly underweight10.7%
Has the right weight55.9%
Slightly overweight27.1%
Very overweight5.2%
  1. It was reported that 59.1% of college graduates are white.
  2. 12% of the students that are enrolled in four-year public institutions are African Americans.
  3. The average age of undergraduate students is reported to be 22.7 years. 
  4. Usually, students between the age of 18 to 24 attend college.

Let’s have a look at the Graduate enrollment by race and ethnicity (2022)

EthnicityPercentage of Students
White42.8%
Black9.8%
Asian7.1%
Two or more races3.4%
Pacific Islander0.2%
Unknown or Unreported22.5%
Latinx9.1%
International4.5%
Native American0.6%
  1. Among the undergraduate students in 2022, around 8.3 million female students enrolled in the college as compared to male students, with around 6.1 million enrollments. 
  2. According to the research, in 2022, the average age of full-time undergraduate students was around 23.

The following data represents the average age of college students in 2022.

Degree programThe average age of students
Undergraduate full time22.7
Undergraduate part-time27.5
Graduate/professional students full time30.4
Graduate/professional students part-time35.5
  1. Moreover, in 2022 the students who enrolled in college and with the age group of 18 to 24 were 9,674,810.

Let’s check the student enrollments by age 2022.

Age groupEnrollments
Under 18704,133
18-249,674,810
Over 245,791,324

Source: NSC Research Center, US BLS, 

College Enrollment Statistics 

How many students study at public colleges? What is the number of college student enrollment over the past decade? You will find the answers to these questions in this section. 

  1. In the academic year 2021/2022, approximately 20.2 million students enrolled for an undergraduate degree. 

The following tables include details about the number of students enrolled over the years in the college

YearNumber Of Students Enrolled
2011-201224.8 million
2012-201324.1 million
2013-201423.7 million
2014-201522.8 million
2015-201622.5 million
2016-201722.2 million
2018-201922.1 million
2019-202021.8 million
2020-202121 million
2021-202220.2 million
  1. 13.87 million students are enrolled in public colleges, while 5.12 million college students are enrolled in private colleges. 

The following table provides details about the students enrolled in public and private colleges over the years. It also includes the predicted values.

YearNumber Of Students Enrolled In Private CollegesNumber Of Students Enrolled In Public Colleges
20185.11 million14.54 million
20195.13 million14.5 million
20205.12 million13.87 million
20215.35 million14.98 million
20115.26 million14.77 million
20235.2 million14.65 million
20245.2 million14.66 million
20255.22 million14.72 million
20265.25 million14.8 million
20275.29 million14.88 million
20285.32 million14.96  million
20295.36 million15.04 million
20305.38 million15.1 million

Source: Statista.

  1. According to research from bestcolleges.com, around 7.6 million college students enrolled in four-year public colleges in 2022.

Let’s have a look at the student college enrollment by school type.

School typeEnrollments
Public Four-year 7,599,121
Public Two year4,456,014
Private non-profit four years4,005,920
Private for-profit four years838,553

The following table shows the breakdown of the Undergraduate college students enrolled in the US according to ethnicity (2022)

EthnicityPercentage of students
White42.2%
Black 17.8%
Asian5.8%
International1%
Pacific Islander0.3%
Native American 0.7%
  1. When talking about the enrollments by degree level, in fall 2022, 8.6 million students were bachelor’s degree students.
  2. Moreover, 4.4 million students were pursuing associate degrees in the fall of 2022.

Let’s have a look at the college enrollments by degree level.

DegreeNumber of EnrollmentsPercent of enrollments 
Bachelors 8,576,45947.2%
Graduate or professional2,085,41311.5%
Associate4,388,79724.2%
Other Undergraduate3,104,95017.1%
  1. The percentage of students who enrolled full-time was 63% in 2022.
  2. Similarly, 37% of the students enrolled part-time in 2022.

The below data states the full-time and part-time enrollments in the US in 2022.

School typeFull-time enrollments Part-time enrollments
All schools63%37%
Private Nonprofit four year7.7%22.3%
Private for-profit four year61.2%38.8%
Public four year71.6%28.4%
Public two year44.4%55.6%

College Student Enrollments by State 2022

  1. Among the states in the US, California has the highest number of student enrollments for undergraduates. 

Let’s have a look at the college student enrollments by state.

State Undergraduate EnrollmentGraduate Enrollment
Alabama216,92345,549
Alaska17,6981,857
Arizona408,96789,243
Arkansas112,99020,567
California2,055,042262,047
Colorado232,10852,636
Connecticut133,01235,909
D.C.43,32638,725
Delaware44,55910,637
Florida796,642129,662
Georgia433,41885,552
Hawaii47,0256,632
Idaho109,6078,362
Illinois475,189124,662
Indiana273,21767,205
Iowa158,00924,386
Kansas147,77425,523
Kentucky196,30350,453
Louisiana179,92034,655
Maine63,8379,256
Maryland253,23968,962
Massachusetts312,794121,732
Michigan381,74970,436
Minnesota231,84737,237
Mississippi120,34321,854
Missouri233,60071,800
Montana38,7376,410
Nebraska99,45119,697
Nevada102,52010,109
New Hampshire39,9309,224
New Jersey304,06165,996
New Mexico86,87913,304
New York796,824249,445
North Carolina463,91079,031
North Dakota41,7847,799
Ohio465,48185,217
Oklahoma152,20627,560
Oregon161,44824,178
Pennsylvania481,511141,414
Rhode Island56,68010,105
South Carolina211,53827,800
South Dakota39,5125,737
Tennesse245,78750,791
Texas1,322,949211,617
Utah223,12718,428
Vermont31,2205,264
Virginia400,385109,900
Washington254,68438,649
West Virginia64,80610,995
Wisconsin263,94234,527
Wyoming26,6312,535

College Students Budget 

Students have to spend thousands of dollars on their college fees, living expenses, and other required commodities during their college years. Let us take a look at the approximate budget of college students. 

  1. The tuition fee required for an undergraduate student is approximately $ 10,940 for the two-year public school
  2. The following table gives a detailed breakdown of the college student’s budgets according to different colleges. 
Tuition And FeesBooks and SuppliesRoom and BoardTransportationOther Expenses
Public two-year college3,8601,4609,6101,8702,430
Public four-year in-state on-campus10,9401,24012,3101,2502,200
Public four-Yearout-of-station-campus28,2401,24012,3101,2502,200
Private Nonprofitfour-year on-campus39,4001,24014,0301,0701,830

 Source: Statista.

College Student Health Statistics

Most of the college students tend to neglect their physical health. On the other hand, there are few students that are fitness freaks. In this section, you will come across the numbers and statistics related to the physical health of college students. 

  1. 45.6% of college students reported that they use birth control pills to avoid pregnancy.
  2. It was reported that every year around 150,000 students in college had developed some kind of alcohol-related health issue.
  3. Only 14% of the students rated that their general health is excellent. 
  4. In the year 2021, 2% of the students reported that their health was poor.
  5. It was found that 39% of the students had good health and they felt fresh.
  6. 26.9% of college students reported that they were suffering from a cold. It is the most common health issue among college students. 
  7. 8% of the students suffer from a broken bone or sprain in their college years.

The following table includes the common health issues that students face:

Health IssuesPercentage of Students Affected
Cold or other respiratory illness.26.9%
Orthopaedic injury8%
Urinary tract infection7.7%
Stomach or food poisoning66%
Flu5.2%
Other short-term issues4.1%
Bronchitis2.9%
Concussion2.4%
Mononucleosis1.2%
Chlamydia1.2%
Pneumonia 1.1%
Shingles1.1% 
Chicken Pox0.5%
Gonorrhea0.4%
Pelvic inflammatory disease 0.3%
Mumps0.3%
  1. 33.4% of college students skip breakfast every day. 
  2. 49% of college students never skip lunch, while 55.2% of students reported that they would never skip dinner.
  3. 75.7% of the students in colleges reported that they used e-cigarettes or vapes.

The following table gives the breakdown of the tobacco products used by college students

Product NamePercentage Of Students
E-cigarettes75.7%
Cigarettes42%
Cigars or little cigars16.2%
Water pipe or hookah10.2%
Chewing or smokeless tobacco8.8%
other3.2%

Sources: Statista, NCES

College Student Mental Health Statistics

Mental health is usually ignored by students in their college lives. However, later they have to face severe consequences due to negligence. Here are some facts about the mental health of the students. 

  1. 34% of college students reported that they have an anxiety disorder. 
  2. The second most common cause of the death of college students is suicide. 
  3. 47% of the students reported that they eat whenever they are stressed. 
  4. 80% of the students often feel stressed.
  5. The depression rate among students has grown by 5.1%.
  6. Only 10% of college athletes reported that they seek help for depression and prefer counselling for their mental health issues. 
  7. 33% of the students reported that they struggle with depression or anxiety. 
  8. 64% of college students reported that they have to drop out of college due to mental health issues. 

Source: Healthy Minds Network, Statista

Student Loan Debt Statistics

How many loads do college students take? Are they able to pay back the debt? In this section, you will find the details about the loans taken by college students. 

  1. Loans of approximately $1.7 trillion were owed by college students in the year 2022.
  2. 16% of the students struggle to pay for their high education due to the loans they have to pay.
  3. Approximately 22.3 million students that have borrowed loans for their education fall under the age of 34.
  4. There are 14.4 million students in the age group of 35 to 49 that have borrowed loans of approximately $622.9 billion. 

Source: Forbes. 

College Student’s Life 

The life of a college student is filled with adventure and new challenges. It is surely fun to be at that age, but on the other end, there are various cons. Let us take a look at some facts related to the life of college students.

  1. 40% of the students reported that they consumed fruits two or more times a week. 

The following table includes the data about what students usually consume in a week. 

Food TypePercentage Consumption
Fruit 40%
Meat39.7%
Seafood44%
Dairy products43.3%
Candies and soft drinks40.4%
  1. 76% of the students in July 2020 were ready to attend college if the pandemic decreased.
  2. 7.6% of the students reported that they face issues falling asleep all days of the week.

The following table shows the percentage of students that face problems falling asleep. 

Number Of DaysPercentage Of Students
0 days33.3%
1 day22.5%
2 days14.3%
3 days 8.8%
4 days5.4%
5 days5.4%
6 days2.7%
7 days7.6%
  1. 25% of the students reported that they performed poorly in their academics due to a lack of sleep. 
  2. Approximately 80% of college students consume alcohol.
  3. 20% of college students in the US have alcohol use disorder.
  4. Since the pandemic, 28% of college students have reduced drinking alcohol. 
  5. 24.1% of college students reported heavy use of alcohol at least once in two weeks. 
  6. 25% of the students reported having academic issues due to drinking. 
  7. College students reported that they slept an average of 6 to 7 hours a night. 
  8. 45% of the college students reported that they exercise at least 3 times a week. 
  9. The average caffeine consumed by college students was reported to be 173 mg a day.

Source: Statista

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Wrapping Up: College Student Statistics (2023)

That’s all about college students’ statistics. 

College students have to work hard in order to get good grades and need to complete all the assignments and projects. They also usually have to deal with mental health issues and physical health issues. 

Pheww! It is surely a tough job to be a college student.

I hope that the above article has helped you to get a basic idea about the important statistics related to college students and their lives. If I have missed some important facts and figures, you can add them in the comment section. I will make sure to add them to the article with the required credits. 

Ryan Harris

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