Abstract
Fourth in a series of who our students are and how they perform.
http://walterwendler.wordpress.com/.
The title of an anthology of stories by and about nontraditional students complied by Donna S. Talarico may say it best, and may say it all:
Kids, have you seen my backpack…?
For most of our national history college students were young, recent graduates of high schools or prep schools, usually men, entering professional or pre-professional fields of study, more often than not living in dormitories, attending class five days a week, possibly having a part-time job, and expecting to complete a baccalaureate degree in four, maybe five, years.
But that has changed markedly in the last fifty years and, predictability, vanished.
Many studies suggest that 70% of students in tertiary education don’t fit the old mold. They delay enrollment for a year or more after high school, attend part-time, work 35 hours per week or more, are considered financially independent, have dependents other than a spouse, may be a single parent, and do not have a high school diploma but a GED, if any credential at all.
Our world is changing.