Who Are Nontraditional Students
“Nontraditional student” is a nomenclature used to represent every iteration of college or post-secondary school student outside of 18 to 22 years of age, including first generation students, lifelong learners, and everyone who builds an educational path on their own terms—often out of necessity. Even traditionally-aged students who live off-campus in largely residential colleges hover on the edges of this label.
Nontraditional students are the fastest growing population of college undergraduates in the United States. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that about 75% of all college students are now considered nontraditional, defined as possessing any of these characteristics:
- being independent for financial aid purposes
- having one or more dependents
- being a single caregiver
- not having a traditional high school diploma
- delaying postsecondary enrollment
- attending school part time, and
- being employed full time
Obstacles to Learning
Some obstacles students may face in their education include:
- previous negative experiences with education systems, resulting in pessimistic attitudes about themselves or others
- under-prepared and under-supported teachers
- uncertainty about the roles of teachers, and whether they can be trusted
- undeveloped skills in communication, critical thinking, and reflection, as well as deficiencies in time management, note taking, and college-level reading and writing skills, understanding what a syllabus is and what is being asked in assignment questions, reading prompts, and discussion questions
- undiagnosed learning challenges which may result in frustration when students can't seem to succeed despite their best efforts
- experiences with hostile climates for learning, both in the built environment, and in the social and cultural elements around them
Students in these circumstances may have life experiences and home situations that make learning difficult, such as:
- past or ongoing trauma which disrupts their ability to concentrate and retain information, and increases the potential for students to become anxious, and potentially aggressive
- competing responsibilities and demands on their time and attention
- an absence of role models who have overcome similar educational experiences, and
- family and/or cultural fears and biases about higher education
Unique Strengths
Among the characteristics that define nontraditional learners are rich perspectives that they bring to their educational experience and the classroom. In fact, some of what may be perceived as obstacles and less than optimal life experiences can bring a new depth and dynamism to the classroom. Understanding the ways that these students differ in their approaches to education can help teachers draw on—and draw out—their strengths and assets.
The approaches and practices in this guide are intended to facilitate that work and to offer tools that lead to a more satisfying experience for everyone in the classroom, students and teachers alike.
DISCUSSION: Barriers to Success
Jack:
There is such a thing as fear of success. Many students did not succeed academically earlier in their lives and the fact that they are doing well in class as adults requires them to develop a new self-perception or new self-identity. That can be very frightening, and we’ve lost many high-achieving students toward the end of a course. Perhaps they were afraid of what it might mean if they completed a college-level course with distinction. (Possibly: That they had always had this potential and squandered previous opportunities? That their social circle would no longer accept them? That someone else in their life had been “right” and they were “wrong” about themselves?—there are lots of ways to negatively interpret later-in-life success.)
Lela:
One pattern we observed is that often students who we felt would be most successful dropped out. We have no evidence, other than anecdotal, that this was at least in part because they were overconfident coming into the course—maybe backed up by being told they were “perfect” fits by people who referred them. When students encountered the high standards for the course, they may have experienced self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy, even when objectively they were more than capable of achieving their goals.
A few people working in the local drug courts and substance abuse programs also told me that new graduates of their programs were often overly-confident, and without proper support, made too many commitments and ended up not being able to follow through. So the point is that it’s really important to help students harness their enthusiasm as well as identify their challenges so they can set reasonable expectations for themselves and we can be prepared to give them appropriate support.
Vivé:
Echoing the above about fear of success. I think mid-semester is a good time to help students reconnect with their goals for being in the class. Because they may be struggling and affirming earlier narratives about whether they belong in or can succeed in a class. Or they may be soaring and then wondering what that means for their larger lives. Sometimes we redistribute their application essays to them at some point in the course, though usually further along. But one of my favorite exercises is to ask students to do some reflecting on why they are in the class, what they hoped it would offer them. Then I ask them to call out words that reflect that, and I write them all over the board—achievement, revenge, role model, whatever comes out. Then we end up with a board covered with these words and I talk about how that is what we bring into the classroom every night, that is what is present with us as we travel together through the program. It’s affirming and community building. Students often take pics of it or ask that we send the list to the whole class via email so that they can remember it.
Strengths and Challenges of Nontraditional Learners
Nontraditional Learners bring unique features to their educational experience and the classroom. Understanding the ways that they differ in their approaches to education can help teachers draw on—and draw out—their strengths and assets.
Rich Life Experiences
Adult students enter the classroom having learned things a traditional-aged student may not have learned, and this knowledge and experience has value. To raise children, earn an income, navigate government and social service structures, engage in a neighborhood or religious community, live in a multi-generational family, adapt to a new chosen country, function as a non-native English speaker, and participate in a democracy leads to a kind of learning that is hard to quantify but important to affirm.
Complicated Identities
Adult learners bring diverse and sometimes challenging identities to the classroom. They may have had negative learning experiences that lead them to be under-confident or downright terrified of entering a classroom, or a self-narrative that says they don’t belong or can’t succeed. Undiagnosed or undisclosed learning and mental health challenges are not uncommon, especially for those who were raised in situations or in communities where support for non-conforming students was slim.
They may be inexperienced at balancing the demands of academic work with other life responsibilities and in some cases may have been taught to be suspicious of higher education.
Higher Stakes
In general, the stakes are high for adult learners who return to the classroom. They tend to take the opportunity to learn more seriously than traditional students
and to have less patience for classroom distractions or “busy work.” They are investing time, money, and hope in their education and understandably expect to see a return on that investment, whether it’s in learning, credentials, or a feeling of belonging and achievement.
Nontraditional learners are a rewarding and unique set of students to share a classroom with. Teaching with consideration for both their challenges and their strengths can lead to a more satisfying experience for everyone, students and teachers alike.