Costa Mesa : Orange Coast College Profiles Its Students

The average age of students at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa is nearly 27 years, according to a comparative student enrollment report prepared by the school and released earlier this month.

The census made by the school’s Vocational Education/Instructional Support Services office also showed that students with Asian or Pacific Islander heritage make up the largest minority among Orange Coast’s 25,419 students.

The report said that 79% of the students were 20 years or older, with the average age of the student body 26.9 years.

Almost 45% are at least 25 years old and 26.8 are at least 30 years old. Women make up 51% of the student population.

Full-time students, defined as those carrying 12 or more units, accounted for 28.1% of the student body. Thirty-nine percent said they attended day classes only, 36.4% were enrolled in evening classes only and 24.6% took both night and day classes.

Twenty-eight percent of the Orange Coast student body said they planned to transfer to four-year institutions, while 28.7% listed themselves as occupational majors and 43% were general interest students.

The majority of Orange Coast students--68.3%--listed their ethnicity as non-Hispanic white. The largest minority group was Asian and Pacific Islander with 9.3%, with 5.6% Hispanic, 1.1% black and 1.1% American Indian. Other ethnic categories compose 3% of the population, while 11.9% of the student body declined to identify their ethnic background.

Nearly 13% of the students said they already possessed one or more college degrees, while 25% were first-time college students. First-time transfer students accounted for 10% of the enrollment.