The demographics across the California Community Colleges system are more diverse than you might think.
Out of all enrolled students in the CCC system, 42% are 25 years old or older. The term “non-traditional student” encompasses this age group along with veterans, people who work full time and parents. This crowd of non-traditional students has continued to increase in recent years.
After an initial decline during the Covid-19 pandemic, enrollment at community colleges across the nation have begun to increase as seen from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s data. Reasons include high unemployment rates, Artificial Intelligence creating fear for job security and the cost of living being at a historically high rate.
The rise in non-traditional students, however, is nothing new for Riverside City College. In 2011, Viewpoints published an article about an increase in older students, and economic factors were still listed back then as a motive to return to school.
Even though the reasons for returning statistically seem to be because of hardship, I think there’s more positives that come with being an older student in college. Pursuing higher education at an older age is beneficial to many because of their different outlook on life.
The time spent outside of college teaches a person valuable skills and lessons that can easily be transferred back to the classroom.
The mix of younger and older students creates a unique learning environment with collaboration between peers. The current staff at Viewpoints has a wide range of people in age who all bring different perspectives to the publication from their life experiences.
I returned to school full time at 22 years old and can say I have learned things from people, younger and older, that I could never learn from a textbook. College is an influential experience at any age. A person should take on being a student at a time that makes sense for them, not when society says they need to be ready.
Entering the real world as an adult after high school is a complex time in a person’s life. It’s the first time there is no definitive next step and when you’re still figuring out who you are, finding what career path you want can be even more daunting.
Before returning to school full time, I would drop classes left and right because of anxiety over my non-existent next step plan. If I didn’t even know what I wanted to do with a degree, what was the point of me putting all of this time and effort into school?
Back then, it felt like I was the only person my age who dealt with this. I started to feel discouraged, embarrassed even, when I watched all the people I went to high school with, post their 2025 college graduation pictures on Instagram. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I let myself get so far behind compared to my friends.
The reality is, I was never behind. I’ve become fully acquainted with the cliche idea that “everyone is on their own timeline.” Mine started when I found a passion for journalism but I would have never considered it as a major if I wasn’t enrolled at RCC as a non-traditional student.
Attending college directly after high school may be the traditional route but traditions don’t always have to be kept.
