Inclusivity of Institutions of

Higher Education and

Students 45+

Rebecca Neal, MAC Candidate

Dr. Marjorie Shavers, Assistant Professor and Clinical Director

Heidelberg University, Graduate Studies in Counseling

 Introduction
Rebecca Neal, MAC Candidate, ‘18

Dr. Marjorie Shavers, LPCC-S, LPSC

Agenda

● Nontraditional Students Defined

● Nontraditional Students in Context of
Higher Education
● Identifying Unique Counseling Issues
● Strategies to Meet the Needs of
Nontraditional Students
What are some characteristics of
nontraditional students?
 “Nontraditional” Defined
● What does “nontraditional” mean?
○ The National Center for Education and Statistics (2015)
defines “nontraditional” to include the following
characteristics:
■ Independence for financial aid purpose
■ Single and a caregiver
■ Not in possession of traditional HS diploma
■ Delayed entry into higher education
■ Part-time enrollment, full-time work
● Who is traditional, anyways?
○ Shifting demographics
○ More than 47% of currently enrolled students are over 25 and fewer than 16%
of students fit “traditional mold” (Stamats, as cited in Pelletier, 2010, p.1)
Why 45?

● Why 45?
○ Generational difference
■ Age is often thought of as a defining feature of
“nontraditional” students
■ 25 years old is considered “nontraditional”
(Pelletier, 2010, p.1)
○ A variety of needs as diverse as the group itself
○ Erikson’s “generativity” in middle adulthood,
“wisdom” in later life
Why Does This Matter?
● “President Obama’s 2020 Strategic Vision & Goals”
○ “10 million more graduates from community colleges, four
year colleges and universities by 2020…”
○ “Create and support opportunities for every American to
complete one year or more of higher education or
advanced training in his/her lifetime” (Kanter, Ochoa,
Nassif, & Chong, 2011).
○ Expected results of these goals is to create a more
diversely educated population, and include more people in
the conversation and the surrounding efforts
● Changing demographics of students; middle and
older adults must be reached differently
○ What do you know about how middle and older adults view
counseling? What are challenges that exist in reaching
these populations?
Why is there an increase in
nontraditional students?
● Students may be enrolling for the first time
○ Interest in completing a new degree or learning a new
skill
● Or, they may be returning after a break from
education
○ Changing Careers
■ Voluntary; retire-and-return, earning a new
credential
■ Involuntary; lay off
○ Medical issues or Mental Health Issues
○ Students with veteran-status
■ Special needs of veterans- not just PTSD
■ May have trouble reintegrating into classroom
setting. (Kay & Schwartz, 2010)
Exclusivity of Higher Education
● Colleges and universities are generally not
designed for nontraditional students
● How?
○ Rigid Schedules; land-based classes & few online
courses
○ Hours of availability often limited and inflexible
■ Limited access to additional funding, short staff
supply
○ Biases held by traditional students, staff, and faculty
○ Inaccessible building structures and parking lots
○ Language
■ “Higher Education” is a foreign language”
■ We will discuss this topic in more depth later…
○ Other?
What Programs Exist Today?
● In your state, what programs do you know of that
are specifically geared towards older students?
● Prior Learning and Prior Learning Assessments or
Portfolios
● Community Education Programs
○ Cleveland State University’s “Project 60” Program
■ Tuition free, however not for credit; students may not
be enrolled in for-credit courses concurrently
At Heidelberg...
● HYPE Program & AIM HEI
○ Life skills?
● Owen Academic and Career Support
Center
● Stoner Health and Wellness Center
Mental Health Needs of Older
Students
● What do the mental health needs of older
students look like on your campuses?
● Does anyone have examples of what these
needs might look like?
Mental Health Needs of Older
Students
● Self-esteem and self-efficacy
○ Confidence in ability to take on new challenge or
academic rigor
● Anxiety and/or
● Loss of autonomy
● Change in ability (Bosma, et al., 2003)
● Role changes; shifts
○ Caregiver to receiver of care
○ Empty-nesting
● Other major losses or trauma
○ Deaths of friends and/or family

Is anything missing? Have you seen anything like this on

your campuses?
Counseling Older Students
● Accessibility
○ Location; easy to find & private
○ Extended and varied hours
■ Especially at peak times (beginning and end of
semester)
● Online counseling if feasible
● Communication
○ Consistant and varied in mode
■ The ways we reach “traditional” rarely works as
well for this population
■ Intake forms should ask about best methods of
communication for
■ Adjust outreach on campus to times and
locations to reach targeted populations
Counseling Older Students
● In the office
○ Listen first to discover needs
○ Do not assume anything
○ Strengths based approach
■ What can you do now that you once could not?
○ Language used
■ “Counseling” is a foreign language
○ Link students to resources and networks (Bruce et
al., 2015)
○ Unique outreach - Must meet students where they are
○ Counseling skills with older adults and family issues
○ Emphasis on work/life/school balance (Bruce et al.,
2015)
Fostering a Therapeutic Alliance
● Before assuming who your client is or what
their needs are, listen to what your client has
to say
○ Do not assume an older client is in your office because of concerns
related to their status as “nontraditional”
● Case example: “Thea”, 50 year old, female
○ Enrolled in a digital forensics certificate program
○ First-time, first-semester community college student
Assuming a Strengths-Based
Approach
● A little bit more about Thea…
○ Anxious about her program and about attending school for the first
time
○ Widowed over 10 years prior, husband had died in combat
○ Is the mother of two adult children who both hold bachelor’s
degrees
■ Admires her children very much and aspires to earn her
bachelor’s degree

What strengths does Thea have, based on this information

that you could draw on to encourage the development of
self-efficacy?
Counseling as a Foreign
Language
Counseling as a Foreign
Language
● What on Earth are they talking about?
● Why did I show you this video?
● What did you get out of the video? Anything? Nothing?
○ Why might that be relevant?
● Consider words like:
○ Heteronormativity
○ Intersectionality
○ Psychotherapy
○ Self-efficacy
○ Inclusion
● Our counseling and academic spaces need to be
accessible and inclusive.
○ This is not to say that nontraditional students can’t or don’t understand
terms like this; they may just be unfamiliar
○ Meet your clients where they are and do your best to speak the
same language that they do
Emphasize School/Work/Life
Balance!
● School can consume a lot of mental and physical
energy.
● Leads to less energy for other areas in their life.
● Guilt is often an issue.
● Cause struggles with family dynamics, identity,
sense of purpose, etc.
 What other strategies do
you consider when working
with this group?
What other things should
we consider?
Questions?
 References
Age distribution of full-time and part-time students, 2011 [Table]. (2013, August 23). Chronicle of Higher Education, 35

Bosma, H., van Boxtel, M.P.J., Ponds, R.W.H.M., Houx, P.J.H., & Jolles, J. (2003). Education and age-related cognitive decline: The contribution of

mental workload. Educational Gerontology, 29, pp.165-173. DOI: 10.1080/03601270390157024

Bruce-Sanford, G., Heskeyahu, T., Longo, J., & Rundles, K. (2015) The role of counseling centers for serving non-traditional students in higher

education. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 24, 7 - 30.

Kanter, M., Ochoa, E., Nassif, R., & Chong, F. (2011). Meeting President Obama’s 2020 college completion goal [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from

https://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/winning-the-future.ppt

Kay, J., & Schwartz, V. (2010). Mental health care in the college community. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2015). Web tables: Demographics and enrollment characteristics of nontraditional undergraduates:

2011-12. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015025.pdf

 References
Ohio Department of Aging (n.d.). Lifelong learning. Retrieved July 8, 2016 from https://aging.ohio.gov/information/learning/

Profile of undergraduate students, 2003-04. (2006, August 25). The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac, 2006-7, 55, 18

Vacarr, B. (2014, December 12). An aging America: Higher education’s new frontier. Chronicle of Higher Education, 61(15), A52.

Pelletier, S.G. (2010). Success for adult students. Public Purpose. Retrieved from http://www.aascu.org/uploadedFiles/AASCU/Conten

t/Root/MediaAndPublications/PublicPurposeMagazines/Issue/10fall_adultstudents.pdf