What can colleges do better to assist nontraditional college students?


I am a nontraditional college student, and the first in my family to go to college, so all of this is new to me. My college has not been very helpful at all in providing me with information about course work that will lead up to graduating with a degree in my major, financial aid, scholarship/grant opportunities, study habits, balancing work/school/kids/life, refresher courses, etc. In fact, I have seen 5 counselors there, so far, and 3 of them told me that there was basically no chance in hell that I would ever make it through school and graduate in my major — and I know it was because of my age! My grades are fantastic. But at every turn, it seems like they are trying to convince me that I CAN’T do this. They keep trying to discourage me, and get me to enroll in one of their “certificate” tech programs, which I DO NOT want to do!

Anyone go to a college or university where they “do it right” for the nontraditional students? Which school is it, and what do they do different?

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5 Responses to “What can colleges do better to assist nontraditional college students?”

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  1. 5
    lovebugger Says:

    this is not an advertisment for my alma mater but i went to nova southeastern university in ft lauderdale florida. i remember when i was there they were always stressing trying to make things easier for the non traditional student. they had clubs, special advisors, night classes tailored for people leaving their day jobs and commuting to classes after 6pm. you can check out their website at nova.edu.

    caveat: its pricey. at the end of 4 years i had racked up 70k in just tuition. but as a florida resident i was able to get all sorts of grants and aid and ended up paying ZILCH. if youre interested, you may look into living here for a year 1st to get your residency.

  2. 4
    Halfling Pirate Says:

    I feel you. I went back to college after I got out of the military. My first school didn’t do anything for non-trad students. They were just concerned about all the high school kids. I know that they outnumber us 4-1, but still. So, I transferred.

    At my current school, they have a program and multiple scholarships for the non-trad students, but I just found out about last week. Doesn’t help me much. So, yeah, I think that my school should put it out there more, but the stuff they do have isn’t too shabby.

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