This week, the nonprofit Common App released a first-of-its-kind report shedding light on the backgrounds, academic records, and application and enrollment patterns of financially independent students applying to college for the first time.
Why it matters: Independent students are a quickly growing share of the total college-going population, but face unique challenges and have fewer resources and support systems as they undergo the college admissions process.
Between the Lines
For this study, Common App reviewed the records of more than 45,000 domestic independent applicants between 2016-17 and 2023-24 against data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Independent students were also disaggregated into four key subgroups: adult learners (at least 24 years old when enrolled), student parents, veterans and active-duty military personnel, and applicants who don’t live with their parents (e.g., orphans, wards of the state, emancipated minors). These subgroups are aligned with the eligibility criteria to file the FAFSA independently.
Key Findings
- The number of applications from financially independent students (all four subgroups) has seen massive growth in the time period studied. The number of adult learners and student parents have surged by more than 200% since 2016—nearly five times the growth rate of all other domestic applicants.
- Independent students were more likely to be first-generation, report eligibility for a Common App fee waiver, and be from lower-income areas than all other applicants.
- Independent students were less academically competitive than other applicants, applying to colleges with lower high school grades (average GPA of 3.1 vs. 3.65 for other applicants) and lower SAT/ACT test scores (average concorded SAT/ACT of 1150 vs. 1262 for other applicants).
- Independent students across all four subgroups studied applied to fewer colleges than other applicants and were more likely to apply to schools in their home state—68% vs. 54% of other applicants—and less-selective institutions (75% acceptance rate or higher)
The real trouble? Getting independent students to actually enroll and persist. Independent students were less likely to enroll at four-year institutions than other applicants in Fall 2017, and in the six years since then, fewer than 40% independent students completed their bachelor’s degree program (vs. 70% of others).
Go deeper: Read more about the results of the study from The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and University Business.
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