Recent years have seen growing recognition of the importance of a college-educated workforce to meet the needs of employers and ensure economic growth. Lifelong learning, including completing a postsecondary credential, increasingly is necessary to improve employment outcomes among workers, both old and young, who face rising demands for new and improved skills. To satisfy these needs, many states have established postsecondary completion goals pertaining to the segments of their population ages 25 to 64 years. Although it is not always clear how completion goals will be attained for older students, it is widely recognized that community colleges will play an important role. Here, we use data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to examine enrollment trends by part-time and full-time status for students enrolled in Ohio’s public postsecondary institutions from 2006 to 2014. Unlike previous research that considers all students 25 and older as a homogeneous group, we divide older learners into two groups: ages 25 to 39 and ages 40 to 64. We find that adults in these age groups who attend a public college are more likely to attend a community college than they are a 4-year institution and are more likely to attend on a part-time basis. We discuss the implications of these trends and their relevance to college administrators.

中文翻译：

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高等教育中高年级学生的异质性

近年来，人们越来越认识到受过大学教育的劳动力在满足雇主需求和确保经济增长方面的重要性。终生学习，包括完成高等教育证书，越来越有必要改善工人的就业结果，无论老少，他们都面临着对新技能和改进技能的日益增长的需求。为了满足这些需求，许多州制定了与其 25 至 64 岁年龄段人口相关的高等教育完成目标。尽管对于年龄较大的学生如何实现完成目标并不总是很清楚，但人们普遍认为社区学院将发挥重要作用。这里，我们使用来自综合高等教育数据系统 (IPEDS) 的数据来检查 2006 年至 2014 年在俄亥俄州公立高等教育机构就读的学生的非全日制和全日制入学趋势。作为一个同质的群体，我们将年龄较大的学习者分为两组：25 至 39 岁和 40 至 64 岁。我们发现，在这些年龄组中，上公立大学的成年人比 4 年制学生更有可能上社区大学机构，更有可能兼职参加。我们讨论了这些趋势的影响及其与大学管理人员的相关性。我们将年龄较大的学习者分为两组：25 至 39 岁和 40 至 64 岁。我们发现，在这些年龄组中，上公立大学的成年人比 4 年制机构更有可能上社区大学可能会兼职参加。我们讨论了这些趋势的影响及其与大学管理人员的相关性。我们将年龄较大的学习者分为两组：25 至 39 岁和 40 至 64 岁。我们发现，在这些年龄组中，上公立大学的成年人比 4 年制机构更有可能上社区大学可能会兼职参加。我们讨论了这些趋势的影响及其与大学管理人员的相关性。