Running Head: Traditional versus Nontraditional Students

1.

Sheila A. Mace
Professor Kyle Morris
SOCI 111
24 April 2016

Traditional versus Non-Traditional Students

Sheila Mace
Ivy Tech Community College

Author Note
Sheila A. Mace student at Ivy Tech College
This term paper is for a writing assignment in Introduction to Sociology
SOCI111
Correspondence concerning this article may be addressed to Sheila A. Mace
Contact: smace6@ivytech.edu

Traditional versus Nontraditional Students

2.
Abstract
This term paper is going to be about the advantages and disadvantages of
both a traditional student and a nontraditional student and the issue of their
graduation rate. While I know I started late in the game; at the age of 51, I
decided it was time to finally go to college. I had no idea the challenges I
was going to facetime management, study habits, my career path, my
family, my home, my parents, my job, and myself. I began to question if I
was doing the right thing because after all, I had not been in school for 33
years and so much about education had changed. I formed this opinion or
thought in my head that traditional students must surely be at an advantage
over me. In todays world, do nontraditional students have a much higher
success rate in college than nontraditional students?

Traditional versus Nontraditional Students

3.

Traditional versus Nontraditional Students

Advantages versus Disadvantages

According to the U.S. Department of Educations National Center for

Education Statistics, Nontraditional students can have dependents, be single
caregivers, have delayed their college enrollment, not have a traditional high
school diploma, be employed full-time or attend school part-time. McHenry
County College in Crystal Lake, Illinois tends to have fewer nontraditional
students as a percentage of its enrollment compared to other community
colleges, said Tony Miksa, the colleges vice president of academic and
student affairs. About 25 percent of students enrolled in credit-earning
courses at MCC are 25 years or older, according to statistics provided by
spokesman Donna Bieschke, who noted those numbers do not include the
colleges noncredit- earning adult education program. Although it may take
older students longer to finish their degrees or certificates, 40.9 percent of
degrees and certificates awarded last school year were to nontraditional
students. (Bieschke pg.1).

According to the article Factors Influencing Persistence Among

Nontraditional University Students, one third undergraduate students
enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities are considered nontraditional as
defined by the single criterion of being aged 25 years and older.
Nontraditional students have significantly lower graduation rates than
traditional students. Using a role theory perspective, a mixed methods study
was completed with 494 nontraditional students, two thirds of whom were
women. The majority (60%) were full-time students,
Traditional versus Nontraditional Students
4.
enrolled for at least 12 credit hours. More than half worked part-time and
about a third worked full-time. Most (81%) had children younger than 18
living at home. Participants varied by age and academic classification. Their
cumulative GPAs ranged from 0.074 to 4.0. At the end of the 2013-2014
academic year, 70.8% of participants had persisted (36.6% had graduated
and 34.2% were currently enrolled), while 29.2% were not enrolled and had
not graduated. (Markle pg. 271).
As baby boomers flock toward retirement in ever-increasing numbers,
industries are gearing up to capitalize on this historic demographic
revolution. For all the attention; however, one sector has been strangely
absent from the conversation: higher education. (Vacaar para. 1). This is
especially troubling given that, perhaps more than any other sector, higher

education will need to rethink itself as the population ages. In 2009 a report
from Chronicle Research Services sounded the alarm, warning that the vast
majority of traditional four-year private colleges were heading down the path
to extinction unless they shifted gears. The College of 2020 students found
that the adult-education market will be the fastest-growing one in higher
education for the foreseeable future. Yet five years later, little has changed.
Higher education as whole has yet to focus on this seismic changeincluding
the exponential increase in potential students in their 50s and beyond.
Rob Jenkins, associate professor of English at Georgia Perimeter
College, states that in order for nontraditional students to graduate,
professors are going to have to consider how they design courses and lesson
plans. Nontraditional students often have legitimate issues and
Traditional versus Nontraditional Students
5.
concerns that differ from those of full-time students age 18 to 21. For
example, many nontraditional students have been out of school for years,
and are understandingly anxious about returning to school. Professor Jenkins
said Every semester, I have a student come up to me after the first day of
classusually a woman in her 30s or 40ssay something like, I am so
scared of your class because they have not taken English in _?_ years.
When I decided to start college at my age, I just considered myself a
college student. Throughout my first semester I kept hearing the term

nontraditional student but I did not realize the term referred to me. It was
not until my Student Success instructor had written the definition on the
board, that I realized I was the nontraditional student. Researching the
subject of traditional students versus nontraditional students has really
enlightened me. While we are all attending college at the same timeonline
or face-to-facewe all have one common goal, graduating. In a way,
doing this term paper has inspired me to keep trying and look forward to my
goal. I want to be one of the students who changes the graduating rate of
nontraditional students, in a positive direction.
I researched differences between both types of students in the following
areas:

Study habits.
Study environments.
Credit hours per semester.
Expectations.
Age.
2-year degree or 4-year degree.
Graduation rates of both.

Traditional versus Nontraditional Students

6.
The following surveys I completed with five traditional and five nontraditional
students:
Traditional Student Survey

1. Is this your first year of college, if not your first year, what year are you
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

in?
Are you taking classes online, face-to-face, or both?
What college are you attending?
What is your expected year of graduation?
How many credit hours per semester are you taking?
What is your major?
What type of degree (Associates, Bachelors, etc.) will you graduate

with and is it a 2-year or 4-year degree?

8. How many hours per work do you designate for studying and schoolwork?
9. Do you also work outside of school? If yes, how many hours do you
work weekly?
10.
Did you start school right after high school graduation? If yes,
why didnt you choose to wait until a later time?
11.
What challenges do you face in college?
12.
What advantages do you feel Traditional students have when
starting college right of

high school rather than waiting later in

life, as a Non-traditional student?

13.
Your age?

Traditional versus Nontraditional Students

7.
Non-Traditional Student Survey
1. Is this your first year of college, if not your first year, what year are you
2.
3.
4.
5.

in?
Are you taking classes online, face-to-face, or both?
What college are you attending?
What is your expected year of graduation?
How many credit hours per semester are you taking?

6. What is your major?

7. What type of degree (Associates, Bachelors, etc.) will you graduate
with and is it a 2-year or 4-year degree?
8. How many hours per work do you designate for studying and schoolwork?
9. Do you also work outside of school? If yes, how many hours do you
work
10.
11.
12.

weekly?
Why did you choose to wait until a later time to attend college?
What challenges do you face in college?
Do you feel Non- Traditional students have an advantage when

waiting to start college

rather than starting right out high school, as

a Traditional student? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

13.
Your age?

Traditional versus Nontraditional Students

8.

SURVEY RESULTS
TRADITIONAL STUDENTS VERSUS NONTRADITIONAL
STUDENTS
SURVEY QUESTIONS

TRADITIONAL

NONTRADITIONAL

Avg. year of college.

Online / Face-to-Face

STUDENTS
Second year
Face-to-Face

STUDENTS
First year
Online / Face-to-Face

Student
College Attending

Ivy tech(3), BSU(1),

ISU(1)
Graduation Date
2016 - 2018
Credit Hours Per Semester 15 - 18
Major
Busn. Admin, Music,
Aviation, Liberal
Arts
Type of Degree
2 4 year,
Associates/Bachelor
s
Hours Spent Studying
20 Hrs.

Avg.
Working / Hours Per Week
Why did you not wait /
wait?
Challenges
Advantages /
Disadvantages
Age

25 Hrs.
Fear of not going at
all
Time Management
Knowledge of
material/
Independence
19 - 22

Ivy Tech
2016 2018
12 18
Busn. Admin., Office
Admin., Accounting
2 Year Degree

25 Hrs.
30 -50 Hrs.
Financial Status /
Unclear what path to
take.
Time Management
More focused &
Responsible / Knowledge
of material
30 - 51

Traditional versus Nontraditional Students

9.
While I was reviewing the survey results, I realized a lot of the
nontraditional students felt the same as I do and we answered a lot of the
questions the same. The main reasons we did not start college right after
high school was because of financial difficulties within our families, which
was kind of sad I thought. Today traditional students are going to college
right after high school and paying for it with student loans. Eventually, this

will cause them a financial burden as well, only at a younger age. That is one
of the advantages I have discovered as a nontraditional student; grants,
scholarships, and financial aid for qualifying nontraditional students. It is like
an incentive to encourage older people to seek an education to gain better
employment. Both traditional and nontraditional students agree that time
management is our main challenge. In todays world, both types of students
work outside of school, attend school 1218 hours per week, and spend up to
25 hours per week studying. Knowledge of material was listed in both
surveys as a disadvantage for nontraditional students but of course is an
advantage for the traditional student coming fresh out of high school.
For myself; I did lack the knowledge or familiarity of the materials, but
that just made me work harder and be more determined to succeed. I started
college at age 51, but I started with a lot of life experiences behind me. I am
a mom who has raised two sons, a wife for 29 years, a caregiver to my
elderly parents, and I work for a tax office. I have been through financial
difficulties, death, heartache, good times and bad, which are things not a lot
of traditional students have been through because of their young age. I feel
this is why I am more focused than a traditional student, simply because of
the experiences life has given me. I am excited to walk across the stage,
along with my traditional and nontraditional classmates.
Traditional versus Nontraditional Students
10.

Work Cited
Jenkins, R. (2012). The New Traditional Student. Chronicle Of Higher
Education, 59(8), A31- A32.
Markle, G. (2015). Factors Influencing Persistence Among Nontraditional
University Students.

Adult Education Quarterly.

Ranks of Nontraditional Students Continues To Climb. (2015). Community

College Week, 28(8),

4.

Thompson, N.L. Miller, N.C., & Franz. DE.P. (2013).

AND FACE-TO-FACE

COMPARING ONLINE

LEARNING EXPERIENCES FOR NONTRADITIONAL

STUDENTS. Quarterly Review Of

Distance Education. 14(4), 233-251.

VACARR, B. (2014). An Aging America: Higher Educations New Frontier.

Chronicle Of Higher

Education, 61(15), A52