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The New Tradition of Nontraditional Students - By Andrea Williams

In 2006, then 59-year old Albert Poirier was forced to retire from his 32-year career in the hospitality industry due to a chronic back condition.  With a wide open schedule and a “five-year plan” to become certified to teach online, enabling him to buy a motor home and travel the country with his wife, Poirier decided to enroll in classes with the American Public University System (APU) two years later.  He graduated with a BA in legal studies in 2010 and is currently finishing his master’s degree.

Twenty years ago, Poirier’s story would have been decidedly rare – the perfect material for a warm and fuzzy personal interest feature in the local newspaper.  Today, it’s all too common.  Adult learners have always been present on college and university campuses across the country, but the nation’s faltering economy has caused their numbers to explode.

“I believe adults are flooding colleges and technical schools for one reason – jobs,” says Karen Watts, a business instructor and writing tutor at Bellingham Technical College in Bellingham, Washington.  “It has become a matter of survival and not just an exercise in professional development. The economy of the future requires educated and well-trained workers, and no one – regardless of age – wants to be left jobless and unable to support him- or herself.”

According to the study Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018 conducted by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce and published in June 2010, as the U.S. economy begins to regain its footing and unemployment rates start to decline, jobs of the future will more often require a college degree.  And, as Watts noted, those without a postsecondary education will continue their unfortunate slide down the socio-economic ladder.

“There are nearly 40 million Americans – more than 20 percent of the working-age population – with some college credits, but no degree,” says Carol Aslanian, Senior Vice President of Market Research Services at EducationDynamics, a leading higher education marketing information and technology services company.  “It is critical that we help these students, as well as others who have yet to even start college, make earning a college degree a reality to not only ensure their career success, but our nation’s competitiveness in the global economy.”

For middle-aged students like Poirier, then, it seems as though heading back to school to finish a degree (or start one, as the case may be) is the right decision – albeit not without its share of challenges and uncertainties.

As an instructor who was once a nontraditional student herself, Watts completed her master’s degree in management in 2006 while going through a divorce and caring for two teenagers. She understands the baggage that often accompanies adult students, from pressing family obligations to the emotional stress of a lost job. “My students at the community/technical college level often enter school carrying a set of problems with them,” she explains.  “Many have been laid off or injured and are seeking training for new jobs and have multiple restrictions on the type of programs they can study and how long they have to finish. And those who have not attended school since high school may have negative memories about schooling in general or self-defeating attitudes about their own abilities.”

But because these older learners comprise such a significant portion of the total student body, educational institutions are working harder than ever to ensure their success.

“Nontraditional students already make up 40 percent of the 20 million college students today – without them, colleges would lose close to half of their enrollments,” Aslanian says. “Many colleges and universities have made impressive strides to accommodate adult students.  From taking their programs online to flexible scheduling, serving adult learners has become a priority.”

Often, as Poirier discovered, learning the new technologies of today’s uber-connected society requires the biggest adjustment.  Fortunately, APU was already prepared to help Poirier make the difficult transition to life as a full-time college student.  “When you first enroll, you are required to take a class called ‘Foundations of Online Learning’ that is designed to orient you in the processes of online learning,” he says. “Because it is the first course you take at APU, it helps ease you into the learning process.”

Classes like “Foundations of Online Learning” and other programs created to support and assist nontraditional students are popping up on campuses across the country. At the Metropolitan College of New York, for example, the Audrey Cohen College of Human Services and Education offers exemption of up to 48 credit hours for life experience, provided that the student can validate his or her prior work and/or professional experiences.  Most often these initiatives are embraced by older students who are eager to learn and succeed.

“Because they are so highly motivated by survival needs, the students I see almost immediately begin to search for success strategies,” Watts says. “If pointed in the right direction, most adult students avidly consume supplementary materials as well as advice and mentoring. They are keenly aware that school is going to be a challenge and not shy about fighting for every bit of their education.”

However, even though many schools have taken care to be more accommodating on a global scale, those ideologies don’t always trickle down to the personnel who interact with adult students on a more regular basis.  “I’ve worked with a few schools, and each one seems to have its share of faculty who ‘get it’ and those who don’t,” adds Watts.  “The biggest issue I see is the need to treat adult students as adults, even when their academic skills are lacking. I believe it takes a special type of person to work with adult students and that the best schools will look for academics who are grounded and able to connect with students around real world issues and not just the textbook topic for the week.”

Poirier has had a different experience, though – one that keeps him motivated as he sets his sights on law school this August.  “When I do my introduction at the beginning of each class, I often get remarks about my age,” he says.  “But they have always been positive and, sometimes, they are even touched by a degree of awe and respect.”

Andrea Williams is a contributing writer for INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

Originally published in our February 15 issue (March 2012).
 
 


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