R. Lee Viar IV is someone many would consider a lifelong, determined learner. After getting an associate degree in his early 20s, he returned to college at age 32 to earn his bachelor’s degree, which was no easy feat with a wife and two kids.
“It was challenging and rewarding,” says Viar. He’s now 51 with six kids and holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate.
Viar was a nontraditional student when he first pursued his bachelor’s degree at Frostburg State University and still is — he’s currently pursuing a second master’s degree in American history from Norwich University.
More nontraditional students are now enrolling in college. In fact, according to a September report from the National Center for Education Statistics, between 2014 and 2025, enrollment is expected to increase 16 percent for college students age 25 to 34.
[Get the full college experience as a nontraditional student.]
“The nontraditional is really the new traditional student,” says Viar, who’s the president of the Association for Nontraditional Students in Higher Education.
Some colleges, though, do better than others at meeting the needs of older students, who often juggle work and family commitments while attending school. Education experts encourage prospective applicants who are pursuing a degree later in life to ask current nontraditional students, as well as admissions officers, smart questions about what the institutions offer. Here are a few of those questions.
1. What support will your institution provide me? Some schools make an effort to have resources readily available for nontraditional students. For example, in the Applied Undergraduate Studies division of New York University‘s School of Professional Studies, which caters to older learners, students can expect academic support beyond classroom hours.
“We have free and limitless tutoring, especially in math and writing, for our students,” says Billie Gastic, an associate dean in NYU’s School of Professional Studies. Tutoring is offered during the day, evenings and weekends, she says.
It’s important that schools offer resources such as mentoring and technical support, but prospective students should also research and ask when these services are available, says Viar. Most nontraditional learners work during the day, so resources that are only offered during that time are useless, he says.
[Ask these questions as a nontraditional student.]
2. When are professors available? Prospective students should aim to find out whether professors have office hours and if they’re required to respond to messages on the weekends, says Dani Babb, author of “The Adult Student: An Insider’s Guide to Going Back to School.”
“When you are an older student, you’re going to be working odd hours,” she notes. For that reason, she says it’s helpful to know when you can or should not reach out to a professor.
3. Are there opportunities to build community? Prospective nontraditional students should find out whether there are clubs, student organizations or events that allow older students to network, says Gastic.
“The posttraditional student can feel isolated because they’re not living on campus or they’re not spending a lot of time on campus studying,” she says. “If students feel connected to peers, they can lean on each other for support, and they’re more likely to be successful and to persist to graduation.”
[Stand out as a nontraditional college applicant.]
4. What do career services look like? Nontraditional students are often coming to school for a resume boost, experts say.
“So many posttraditional students are coming because either they’ve hit a ceiling in their own jobs and they need the college credential to be advanced or they’re really looking for this to be an opportunity to career switch,” says Gastic.
Asking about career services can help students get a sense of what kind of coaching is available, she says. Gastic adds that a good career services department will help nontraditional students do some soul searching and meet with them one on one to help them answer questions like “What’s the skill gap that I’m seeking to fill by being here? How do I describe to other people this pivot that I’m seeking to make professionally?”
Viar encourages nontraditional applicants to search LinkedIn and reach out to current, older college applicants about their experience. “They need to educate themselves before they start the formal education process,” he says.
Viar also advises prospective students to research a school’s graduation rate for their age group, as well as a school’s ability to help students grow in their careers.
“A degree is just a piece of paper,” he says — nontraditional students should ensure they’ll receive a return on investment.
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Determine College Fit as Nontraditional Student originally appeared on usnews.com
