The Nontraditional Student: Returning to School in your Adulthood
The term adult student refers to all learners enrolled in postsecondary institutions who fall outside the 18-21 year old range. This group of students who are 22 or older continues to be a growing segment of the campus population. The Chronicle of Higher Education (1996) survey indicated that in the fall of 1993, 58.2% of all (full and parttime) college and university students were 22 or older. Information compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics (1995) shows that over the twenty-two year period 1971-1991, the enrollments of students age 25 or older showed a meteoric rise, increasing by 171%. Within this pool, other striking patterns emerged. Surprised?
Why the increase in adult students?
The reported rise in the 30+ and older group suggests that career motives are behind the enrollment bulge. Job displacement, divorce, single-parenting, and skills updating as it helps secure income for the family, are all possible factors for the surge in adult student enrollment.
What are strengths that the adult learner brings to higher education?
The learner is self-directed Adults enter into education with a wealth of variety of experiences that younger students do not have. Adults bring a life-centered, task-oriented, experience-informed orientation to learning. Adults are internally motivated to learn.
Personal & Academic Challenges
Economic Barriers A large number of adult students identify financial difficulties as a central part of their struggle to attend college. They are self-supporting and must assume the cost of tuition in addition to other financial obligations such as mortgage payments or rent, food, transportation, and child care. They may have a sense of regret mixed with shame at putting family members through leaner times for their decision to enroll. In addition, their responsibilities to work, family, and studying minimize the prospect of experiencing other aspects of campus life.
Internal family stressors Parents and friends may criticize the adult student for their involvement in learning and complaints about divided loyalties. Guilt can be imparted by family members who remind the adult student of the social pressures against education for any but the young and accuse them of distorted priorities. The gender card can also come into play. Society has fairly rigid perceptions about roles appropriate for women - mother, spouse, single parent - and these expectations crystallize as the life cycle progresses. When a wife or mother chooses to become a student, she is certain to experience this role-shifting. Student-to-student tensions College is usually considered the province of the young and strong social norms reinforce this belief. Adult students are not always welcomed by some younger colleagues and therefore may devalue their younger colleagues commitment to education. Differences in psychological and life stages may account for this disparity. To adult students, traditional-age students may appear less serious about their studies, come to class unprepared, and contribute little to class discussions. Younger students frequently see adults as monopolizing class and instructor time, as combative about philosophical points in class discussions and are preoccupied with recounting life experiences as learning examples. Student-Teacher Strains Because adults bring a wide inventory of experience with them to learning, they do not automatically accord expertise to their teachers. Adult students often expect respect from teachers and are not as intimidated as they may have been at a younger age. In addition, the adult student doesn't necessarily believe everything that faculty say and teach and are not afraid to question their answers. Some adult students believe that faculty have two sets of rules for adults and younger students and that faculty may expect more from older students. Other adult students expect more effort and understanding from their professors in the sense that the professor works for the student. Teaching techniques can be a source of contention for adult students. Adult students express a strong preference for interactive, contextual, and facilitative learning. Organizational strains Static, impersonal, and indifferent academic bureaucracies can be unresponsive to the needs of adult clientele. Non-traditional students appreciate evening and weekend classes, extended lab and library hours, extracurricular activities catering to adult and evening students, university personnel with expertise in adult student needs and even
comfortable classroom furniture and more accessible facilities to accommodate older bodies and age-related infirmities. (From Quinnan, Timothy W. Adult Students "At-Risk". Westport, Connecticut: Bergin & Garvey, 2997.)
How to Cope with these Unique Issues
Take advantage of the services listed in your campus directory. The counseling center and academic advising offices can assist you with dealing with the situations that are unique to the adult learner. Saint Mary's College Resources Helpful Books: Apps, J.W. Study Skills for Those Adults Returning to School. New York: McGrawHill, Inc., 1978.