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Digest of Education Statistics
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Table 311.10. Number and percentage distribution of students enrolled in postsecondary institutions, by level, disability status, and selected student characteristics: 2015-16
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected student characteristic Undergraduate Postbaccalaureate
All students Students with
disabilities1
Students without disabilities All students Students with
disabilities1
Students without disabilities
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Number of students (in thousands) 19,308 (—) 3,755   (—) 15,554   (—) 3,547 (—) 423   (—) 3,124   (—)
                                 
Percentage distribution of students                                
Total 100.0  (†)  19.4    (0.21)  80.6    (0.21)  100.0  (†)  11.9    (0.45)  88.1    (0.45) 
                                 
Sex                                
Male 100.0 (†) 19.2   (0.33) 80.8   (0.33) 100.0 (†) 9.9   (0.57) 90.1   (0.57)
Female 100.0 (†) 19.6   (0.26) 80.4   (0.26) 100.0 (†) 13.3   (0.57) 86.7   (0.57)
                                 
Race/ethnicity of student                                
White 100.0 (†) 20.8   (0.31) 79.2   (0.31) 100.0 (†) 13.0   (0.59) 87.0   (0.59)
Black 100.0 (†) 17.2   (0.50) 82.8   (0.50) 100.0 (†) 10.3   (0.94) 89.7   (0.94)
Hispanic 100.0 (†) 18.3   (0.47) 81.7   (0.47) 100.0 (†) 14.3   (1.53) 85.7   (1.53)
Asian 100.0 (†) 15.2   (0.69) 84.8   (0.69) 100.0 (†) 6.2   (0.88) 93.8   (0.88)
Pacific Islander 100.0 (†) 23.6   (4.44) 76.4   (4.44) 100.0 (†) 14.9 ! (6.07) 85.1   (6.07)
American Indian/Alaska Native 100.0 (†) 27.8   (2.71) 72.2   (2.71) 100.0 (†) 11.8 ! (4.60) 88.2   (4.60)
Two or more races 100.0 (†) 22.1   (1.25) 77.9   (1.25) 100.0 (†) 19.7   (3.61) 80.3   (3.61)
                                 
Age                                
15 to 23 100.0 (†) 17.6   (0.27) 82.4   (0.27) 100.0 (†) 8.1   (1.13) 91.9   (1.13)
24 to 29 100.0 (†) 21.6   (0.55) 78.4   (0.55) 100.0 (†) 11.3   (0.67) 88.7   (0.67)
30 or older 100.0 (†) 22.6   (0.48) 77.4   (0.48) 100.0 (†) 13.5   (0.66) 86.5   (0.66)
                                 
Attendance status2                                
Full-time, full-year 100.0 (†) 17.3   (0.28) 82.7   (0.28) 100.0 (†) 12.0   (0.67) 88.0   (0.67)
Part-time or part-year 100.0 (†) 20.8   (0.28) 79.2   (0.28) 100.0 (†) 11.9   (0.57) 88.1   (0.57)
                                 
Student housing status                                
On-campus 100.0 (†) 15.8   (0.49) 84.2   (0.49) (†)   (†)   (†)
Off-campus 100.0 (†) 20.6   (0.31) 79.4   (0.31) (†)   (†)   (†)
With parents or relatives 100.0 (†) 19.5   (0.45) 80.5   (0.45) (†)   (†)   (†)
Attended more than one institution 100.0 (†) 18.7   (0.55) 81.3   (0.55) (†)   (†)   (†)
                                 
Dependency status                                
Dependent 100.0 (†) 17.2   (0.28) 82.8   (0.28) (†)   (†)   (†)
Independent, unmarried 100.0 (†) 23.9   (0.55) 76.1   (0.55) 100.0 (†) 11.5   (0.61) 88.5   (0.61)
Independent, married 100.0 (†) 20.5   (1.07) 79.5   (1.07) 100.0 (†) 10.3   (1.12) 89.7   (1.12)
Independent with dependents 100.0 (†) 20.3   (0.41) 79.7   (0.41) 100.0 (†) 13.4   (0.74) 86.6   (0.74)
                                 
Veteran status                                
Veteran 100.0 (†) 25.8   (0.98) 74.2   (0.98) 100.0 (†) 17.1   (1.09) 82.9   (1.09)
Not veteran 100.0 (†) 19.1   (0.22) 80.9   (0.22) 100.0 (†) 11.6   (0.47) 88.4   (0.47)
                                 
Field of study                                
Business/management 100.0 (†) 17.7   (0.46) 82.3   (0.46) 100.0 (†) 9.9   (0.97) 90.1   (0.97)
Education 100.0 (†) 17.9   (0.92) 82.1   (0.92) 100.0 (†) 12.5   (1.25) 87.5   (1.25)
Engineering/computer science/mathematics 100.0 (†) 19.6   (0.75) 80.4   (0.75) 100.0 (†) 6.8   (0.90) 93.2   (0.90)
Health 100.0 (†) 18.3   (0.40) 81.7   (0.40) 100.0 (†) 12.2   (0.90) 87.8   (0.90)
Humanities 100.0 (†) 21.5   (0.60) 78.5   (0.60) 100.0 (†) 14.1   (1.72) 85.9   (1.72)
Law (†)   (†)   (†) 100.0 (†) 15.0   (2.33) 85.0   (2.33)
Life/physical sciences 100.0 (†) 17.9   (0.74) 82.1   (0.74) 100.0 (†) 11.6   (1.81) 88.4   (1.81)
Social/behavioral sciences 100.0 (†) 21.8   (0.82) 78.2   (0.82) 100.0 (†) 17.5   (1.90) 82.5   (1.90)
Vocational/technical 100.0 (†) 21.6   (1.36) 78.4   (1.36) (†)   (†)   (†)
Undeclared 100.0 (†) 21.7   (1.55) 78.3   (1.55) (†)   (†)   (†)
Other 100.0 (†) 20.2   (0.64) 79.8   (0.64) 100.0 (†) 12.5   (1.29) 87.5   (1.29)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
1 Students with disabilities are those who reported having deafness or serious difficulty hearing; blindness or serious difficulty seeing; serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition; or serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs. For 2015-16, the question about difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions was expanded to include examples of relevant conditions. Specifically, students were instructed to "consider conditions including, but not limited to, a serious learning disability, depression, ADD, or ADHD." The percentage of students reporting difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions was 17 percent in 2015-16 (after the examples were added) and 8 percent in 2011-12 (before the examples were added). Due to addition of the examples, estimates of the percentage of students with this type of disability in 2015-16 and of the overall percentage of students with disabilities in 2015-16 cannot be compared to estimates of the percentages in earlier years.
2 Full-time, full-year includes students enrolled full time for 9 or more months. Part-time or part-year includes students enrolled part time for 9 or more months and students enrolled less than 9 months either part time or full time.
NOTE: Data are based on a sample survey of students who enrolled at any time during the school year. Data exclude students attending institutions in Puerto Rico. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2015-16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:16). (This table was prepared May 2018.)

2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest