Non-Traditional Student Success in Post-Secondary Education
The student population category referred to as non-traditional cuts a wide-swath. Depending on the criteria used for inclusion in this category, non-traditional students may be: Working or non-working adults, active military or veterans, enrolled part-time, returning from an absence from higher education or enrolling after having delayed entrance immediately after high-school, commuting, parents, or supporting other family members or dependents. (Perna, 2010; Wang & Pilarzyk, 2010). Historically, institutions of higher education were not intended for, or designed to accommodate, non-traditional students. Yet the growth rate of non-traditional students enrolled in post-secondary education has surpassed that of traditional students, and this trend seems unlikely to slow or reverse in the foreseeable future (Allen, 1993).
A study of students who began their post-secondary study during the academic year 2003-2004 reported that 15% had not completed their program of study by 2009 although they were still enrolled (Radford, Walton, Lutz, Sara, & Shepherd, 2010). And 36% (or one-third of the students in the study) left their post-secondary programs without earning any type of credential by June 2009 (Radford, et al.). From this and similar research, it is apparent that a substantive number of non-traditional students do not experience academic success, do not achieve the educational goals they set out to attain, or are unable to sufficiently overcome their life-challenges to achieve academic success given the educational supports available to them.
In order to meet the pedagogical needs and scheduling challenges unique to non-traditional students, institutions of higher education may need to change some of their customary practices or add supports that are specifically designed to help non-traditional students achieve academic success. Traditional measures of academic success may need to change as well. Most of the ways that colleges and universities use to measure student success are time-based, relying on traditional ways of structuring higher educational attainment (McGuire, 2010). Students matriculate to earn two-year degrees or four-year degrees. Non-traditional students who withdraw...
Several community colleges have in recent times shown preference for non-credit post-secondary students as opposed to credit students. This trait is particularly common in the areas of staff tutoring and contractor training. Several of these non-credit courses are quite popular for their flexibility in meeting the demands of the prospective workforce students as well as the demands of their employers. Important questions have been raised about traditional colleges due to
Although further education courses can be at traditional universities, they are generally taught through colleges that are exclusively venues for further education courses. These institutions are sometimes called "community colleges" after the American institutions that are similar. (Although American community colleges offer both post-secondary education as well as further or continuing education classes.) Other institutions that offer further education courses may offer a variety of work-based learning classes while campuses
(Rosow, 1994, p. 797) From this review there is a clear sense that success with regard to community college students is determined by their ability to successfully complete the first term of study, as well as by their ability to receive financial aide that adequately covers costs. Additionally, offering culturally diverse social interactions through both official and unofficial means also assists the minority student in achieving success through peer relations
Community Colleges in America In 1983 and 1984, a dozen major reports on the United States' schools were published. All stressed the need for "excellence" in education. These reports are the subject of: Excellence in Education: Perspectives on Policy and Practice. The reports pertaining to higher education were published by The BusinessHigher Education Forum, and saw higher education as "unable to train skilled managers and technicians that they believed industry needed."
Undocumented Students Equity to in-State Tuition: Reducing The Barriers There exist policy ambiguities and variations at federal, state, and institutional levels related to undocumented student access to and success in higher education and this has created problems for these students. This study investigated specific policies and procedures to provide the resources and capital to assist undocumented students as well as reviewed key elements of showing the correlation of these difficulties with ethnic
NPSAS was the only study in 1996 that encompassed the people who enrolled in the for-profit institutions which is why not even the very basic criteria of the for-profit sector and its educational setup has been well-recognized (Breneman, Pusser and Turner 2000; Chung, 2006). The confirmation that the students who had some sort of shortcoming whether in the financial sector, minority aspect or admittance-timeline factor were the ones who mainly
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