Non-traditional student

Non-traditional student is an American English term referring to a category of students at tertiary educational institutions. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) acknowledges there is no precise definition for non-traditional student, but suggests that part-time status and age are common elements. In a 1996 study, the NCES included anyone who satisfies at least one of the following as a non-traditional student:

• Delays enrollment (does not enter postsecondary education in the same calendar year that he or she finished high school)

• Attends part-time for at least part of the academic year

• Works full-time (35 hours or more per week) while enrolled

• Is considered financially independent for purposes of determining eligibility for financial aid

• Has dependents other than a spouse (usually children, but sometimes others)

• Is a single parent (either not married or married but separated and has dependents)

• Does not have a high school diploma (completed high school with a GED or other high school completion certificate or did not finish high school)

By this standard, the NCES determined that 73% of all undergraduates in 1999–2000 could be considered non-traditional, representing the newly "typical" undergraduate. Therefore, the NCES defines non-traditional on a continuum based on the number of these characteristics present. Students are considered to be "minimally non-traditional" if they have only one non-traditional characteristic, "moderately non-traditional" if they have two or three, and "highly non-traditional" if they have four or more.

Demographics

According the Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success, the typical college student is no longer an 18 year-old, full-time student who has limited family and financial obligations. In 2008, more than a third of undergraduate students were over the age of 25, nearly 25% were parents and half of those parents were single parents. In addition, non-traditional student enrollment has been trending upwards recently, which some observers attribute to the economic downturn.

Part-time enrollment, by some definitions a determining factor of non-traditional status, may account for a large proportion of college students. 46 percent of postsecondary students are enrolled part-time. A considerably higher percentage of part-time students are enrolled in 2 year colleges compared to public 4 year institutions.

Opportunities

See also: List of programs and colleges for non-traditional students

Programs

In many cases, non-traditional students may enroll in tertiary educational institutions without entering a special program. Despite this, many colleges do offer programs for non-traditional students with options for both full-time and part-time study, though both choices are not necessarily available at every institution. In addition, many colleges offer programs within their regular curricula to serve non-traditional students. For example, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been supporting an academic major called the University Without Walls- UMass Amherst which is dedicated to helping non-traditional students complete their bachelor's degrees since 1971.Women's colleges also offer programs for older women who would like to return to school, such as Agnes Scott College's Irene K. Woodruff return-to-college program, Mount Holyoke College's Frances Perkins Program, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College's Women's External Degree Program, Simmons College (Massachusetts)'s Dorothea Lynde Dix Scholars Program, Smith College's Ada Comstock Scholars Program, Bryn Mawr College's Katherine McBride Scholars Program, and Wellesley College's Davis Degree Program. Similarly, Tufts University's REAL program (Resumed Education for Adult Learners) was originally intended to draw young mothers back into higher education, but soon expanded to admit men and women aged 24 or over.

Such programs have become common-place, extending even to colleges in Ivy League universities. Yale University hosts a non-traditional student option through its Eli Whitney Students Program. "Whitney Students" take classes with other undergraduates and may earn either a B.A. or B.S. degree. The Eli Whitney Students Program is small, with only 20-30 students among the 5200 student undergraduate population each year. It is also highly competitive, with an admission rate of less than 10%. Brown University also hosts a similar program called Resumed Undergraduate Education.

Colleges

In contrast, a few select degree-granting colleges (not merely "programs" or "divisions" within an existing college) are oriented entirely towards non-traditional students. Examples include the Fordham College of Liberal Studies at Fordham University, the Columbia University School of General Studies, and the Harvard Extension School at Harvard University. The State University of New York serves non-traditional students with their own college through the multi-campus Empire State College. Students at these colleges may take all of their courses with other non-traditional students, or may share classes with students from other colleges in the respective university, or some combination of the two. Distance learning also caters to non-traditional students because of the flexibility in scheduling. Among the largest accredited examples is the University of Phoenix. Night classes, at both traditional four-year universities and for-profit colleges, can also be considered to be catering to the non-traditional working student.

See also

• Adult education
• Adult learner
• Alpha Sigma Lambda
• Continuing education
• Mature student

Further reading

• Crimaldi, Laura, "Older residents follow Pathway to college", Boston Herald, Sunday, January 4, 2009. About students successes in the College Pathways program at ABCD Learning Works in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Rogers, Alan, "Non-formal Education: Flexible Schooling Or Participatory Education?", Springer, 2005. ISBN 0-387-24636-3

External links

• Yesterday's Nontraditional Student is Today's Traditional Student. Center for Law and Social Policy, June 29, 2011.