47% of College Students are Independent Students

According to the CLASP fact sheet Yesterday's Nontraditional Student is Today's Traditional Student:

• 47% of undergraduates are independent students
• Nearly a quarter of students are parents, and more than one in eight students are single parents
• 63% of community college students would be unable to attend college if they did not work

Meanwhile according to a brief by CLASP and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, Not Just Kid Stuff Anymore: The Economic Imperative for More Adults to Complete College:

• Between 2008 and 2018 demand for college-educated workers will rise by 16 percent while demand for other workers will stay flat.

• Demand for college-educated workers in nearly half of the states will grow 2 to 3 times faster than demand for high school graduates or dropouts. In six states (IN, MA, ME, MI, MN and OH), jobs that require a college education will grow 5-7 times faster.

• By 2018, nearly two-thirds of the nation’s jobs will require some postsecondary education or training.

According to this report, just as our economy is demanding more workers that have some postsecondary education or training, our traditional source of such workers – high school graduates – is leveling off:

• Over the next decade there will be no national growth in the number of high school graduates.

• Thirteen states (AK, HI, IL, MA, ME, MD, MS, MO, MT, NH, OH, PA, and WV) will have 5 to 10 percent fewer high school graduates in 2020.