LACCD Logo
 Los Angeles Community College District
Office of Institutional Research

ENROLLMENT BY AGE BY COLLEGE
FALL 1972 - FALL 2008
City East Harbor Mission Pierce South-
west		 Trade-
Tech		 Valley West District
%		 District
Number
Percent Concurrent High School Students*
1972
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
1980
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
1990
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
2000
4.8
6.2
9.7
10.5
7.7
6.0
13.0
7.3
---
9.9
10,960
2006
6.2
3.0
12.4
14.2
9.3
9.3
8.3
7.9
6.0
7.8
8,875
2007
8.3
4.8
13.5
15.9
9.9
14.3
9.4
8.3
10.0
9.4
11,428
2008
6.9
7.4
13.2
17.0
8.5
18.2
12.0
7.0
13.7
10.2
13,730
Percent Under 20*
1972
24.7
28.1
38.2
---
42.4
17.9
16.2
32.5
35.7
29.6
30,084
1980
17.1
23.4
27.7
13.1
30.8
22.1
18.4
22.4
19.6
22.7
30,023
1990
11.9
20.2
20.7
13.5
26.1
12.1
13.0
19.1
13.3
17.6
19,463
2000
9.8
15.1
15.2
14.3
20.8
13.3
9.4
16.6
9.4
14.1
15,622
2006
11.9
20.7
20.2
18.3
26.5
12.9
11.6
20.3
11.9
18.0
20,606
2007
11.4
20.7
20.6
18.6
26.1
12.9
11.2
19.8
12.2
17.9
21,735
2008
11.8
20.6
21.0
19.9
27.0
13.2
11.4
19.5
11.2
18.1
24,362
Percent 20-24
1972
32.6
34.4
28.4
---
28.7
26.3
24.5
30.8
28.8
29.8
30,300
1980
30.9
32.3
25.7
18.8
29.3
27.5
26.7
27.7
23.6
28.1
37,266
1990
29.0
35.5
29.0
20.5
32.9
26.0
27.1
31.3
26.5
29.8
33,024
2000
25.9
34.1
29.6
26.8
28.7
21.9
21.5
28.7
17.6
26.9
29,829
2006
26.9
35.3
30.6
29.5
31.3
22.6
24.3
29.4
28.3
29.5
33,711
2007
26.9
34.7
30.3
29.1
31.5
22.6
24.8
30.0
26.1
29.4
35,709
2008
27.8
34.4
30.8
28.0
31.7
23.9
25.2
31.0
26.3
29.7
39,903
Percent 25-34
1972
28.3
22.4
18.9
---
16.8
36.1
34.6
22.7
22.6
24.8
25,137
1980
33.1
26.9
21.1
28.5
19.6
28.0
32.4
26.3
27.9
26.8
35,535
1990
34.4
27.7
25.1
28.5
23.8
33.8
33.6
28.7
32.1
29.4
32,552
2000
28.1
26.7
23.3
22.5
21.5
27.2
25.5
24.8
22.0
24.8
27,488
2006
25.7
24.0
19.7
18.5
15.9
24.3
25.6
21.4
26.9
22.3
25,498
2007
25.1
23.5
18.6
18.6
16.1
22.8
25.2
21.7
25.8
21.9
26,652
2008
25.6
22.5
19.4
18.4
16.6
21.5
24.8
22.2
24.8
21.8
29,332
Percent 35 and Over
1972
14.4
15.1
14.5
---
12.1
19.7
24.6
14.0
12.9
15.8
15,995
1980
18.9
17.3
25.5
39.6
20.4
22.3
22.5
23.7
28.9
22.4
29,651
1990
24.8
16.6
25.3
37.5
17.3
28.1
26.3
20.9
28.2
23.2
25,649
2000
31.3
17.8
22.2
25.9
21.3
31.7
30.5
22.6
21.3
24.3
26,950
2006
29.3
17.0
17.2
19.5
17.0
30.9
30.2
21.1
26.9
22.4
25,659
2007
28.3
16.3
17.1
17.8
16.4
27.4
29.3
20.2
25.9
21.4
26,053
2008
27.9
15.1
15.5
16.7
16.3
23.1
26.5
20.3
24.0
20.2
27,188

*Before 1991, Concurrent High School student counts are included in Under 20 counts.

See the Excel spreadsheet version of this file Excel icon

Last Update: 11/06/2008

Enrollment increases in late 1990s occured in all four age groups, followed by slight declines in numbers in early 2000s. Perhaps the most significant change, however, has been with younger age group, whose members are most likely to be college undergraduates. As the "Enrollment by Age" graph shows, after significant decline in numbers and percentages of students under 20 in 1980s, a partial rebound has occured during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Nevertheless, enrollment growth fueled by the Baby Boom echo is expected to be lower compared to historic trends, not reaching Boomer's tidal wave proportions. Historically, those under 20s attend in the greatest numbers of any age group, and carry the heaviest hour loads; more than half are full-time students. Students in this age group represent the "traditional" age cohort for two-year colleges.

For more detail about attendance trends see Clearer Thinking about Student Characteristics as a Guide to Policy Planning, Office of Research and Planning, May 1993.


Graph depicting Los Angeles Community College enrollment by age from fall 1972 to fall 2004.