Growing Numbers of “Non-Traditional” Students Give It the Old College Try

Despite a successful career as a real estate broker with the Corcoran Group, and a great relationship with his partner, Christian Haag felt things just weren't right."I had an epiphany," says Haag, 31. "Even though I was making good money, life is short and I had to follow my heart."  So Christian quit his job, and enrolled at CCNY to finish his undergraduate degree.Haag is one of a record number of so-called nontraditional or re-entry students who have returned to colleges and universities across the country to finish their degrees. Adults are returning to college and university in record numbers. According to the "Association for Nontraditional Students in Higher Education," (ANTSHE), students over 25 make up 48 percent of all new and returning student populations compared to 28 percent in 1970.  According to "City Facts," the enrollment at CCNY of non-traditional students  (ages 30-60) has been increasing steadily since 2006."Job loss, and career changes and other employment-related byproducts of the United States recession are the primary reasons for the increase in returning students. But, adds Dominic Stellini, a student advisoer at CCNY's, Center for Worker Education., "Also they [adult students] feel like they are missing something, and they want to finish what they started."Many returning students say that they need as much education as possible to compete in the highly competitive job market. "Being that I'm a minority, by that I mean black and a women, it's hard," says Kimberly Lewis, a 41-year-old CCNY student. "A high school diploma just doesn't cut it especially with what I want to do."Drive and a love of learning are typical characteristics of these students. "I love school! I want to go to graduate school! Get a PHD!" says Lewis. "This is a real change for Lewis, a a self-professed "party animal" when she first went to college in 1985.Returning students are, in general, more motivated than their classmates who've just finished high school. "Their motivation tends to be different than your typical ungrad," explains Stellini. "Not all, but they're not doing it because it's the next thing to do. They tend to have a clear sense of their goals."Though more driven, nontraditional students often have more responsibilities that can interfere with class work. "They have more demands on their time than most traditional students" say CUNY Baccalaureate advisor, Beth Kneller. "Many are working a job or dealing with the stress of having lost one. They may be taking care of children and a parent; this is the sandwich generation."Fitting in on a campus full of teenagers and twenty-somethings can also prove challenging. "It was hard to assimilate," says Lewis "I just think differently, or over analyze."Despite these challenges adult students are "getting it done" says Kneller. "They have a higher graduation rate than traditional students, 50 percent for adults and 40 percent traditional students."So if you see some students in class who are closer to your mother's age than to yours, they may not know who Lady Gaga is but they certainly know their stuff.