1 Defining Success: Why Are You Here?
Alise Lamoreaux and Dave Dillon
Non-traditional students have an ever-growing presence on college campuses, especially community colleges. Non-traditional students can be broadly defined as having one or more of the following characteristics:
- Entry to college delayed at least one year following high school
- 24 years or older
- Having dependents
- Being a single parent
- Being employed full-time
- Being financially independent
- Being incarcerated or a returning citizen
- Veterans of US armed services
- Homeless or at risk of homelessness
- Attending college part-time
- Not having a high school diploma
- First-generation college student
- First generation in the US
- English Language Learner
- Dislocated worker
The degree to which a student is non-traditional can greatly influence college success. The more characteristics from the list a student possesses, the more non-traditional the student may be from the perspective of the college system. However, the student may not view themself as non-traditional since several of the characteristics listed are typical adult behaviors, but when it comes to how colleges serves students, the individual is nontraditional in behaviors, needs, and expectations.
Non-traditional students face critical issues surrounding participation in college and ultimately, college success. These critical issues include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Strategies for managing competing needs on their time
- Difficulty navigating confusing institutional environments
- Understanding the culture of college
- Transitional services not in place to the same degree as for “traditional” students
- Knowledgeable support systems
- Personal barriers
- Unpredictable influences on their schedules
- Work first, study second priorities
- Paying for college
- Underprepared foundation skills (Reading, Writing, Math, Computer Literacy, Human Relations, Oral Communication).
“College Attendance Demographics” by National Center for Education Statistics
Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) supports the information highlighted in their 2003 report titled, Work First Study Second. During the 1999–2000 academic year, 43% of undergraduates enrolled in post-secondary education were age 24 or older. This age is significant because it is used for determining financial independence for Federal Financial Aid programs (fafsa.ed.gov). Financial independence combined with the growing cost of attending college is leading to a growing number of part-time students enrolled in college classrooms. A more recent article in the Wall Street Journal indicates that the number of non-traditional students passed the 50% mark in 2011 (Number of the Week: ‘Non-Traditional’ Students Are Majority on College Campuses). Research provided in 2012 by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) revealed that 51% of college students qualified as low income and would have to work to cover direct and ind