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While the number of individuals in the United States between the ages of 25-44 with a bachelor’s degree has been increasing, so too has the number of individuals who have started college and dropped out. Higher education has numerous societal and individual benefits that are not being actualized because there are simply not enough individuals with bachelor’s degrees in this country. Nontraditional students (NTS) are entering higher education at increasing rates but at higher risk for drop-out; therefore, it is essential to learn more about this population to improve their rates of persistence. This study examines the life experiences of 35 NTS accepted to a bachelor’s degree program in a college of continuing education. This is a bounded case study of a specific group of students that utilized a content analysis of their application essays to understand their sentiments when (re)entering higher education. Themes stemming from the research questions, essay prompt, and theoretical lens were explored but allowed for others to emerge as well. Applicants shared many personal life experiences that contributed to their goals and motivations for achieving a bachelor's degree. Ambitions for earning a bachelor’s degree were spread across the personal and professional realms, including both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Most applicants had previously attended college prior to applying to CCE while two were applying to college for the first time. Twenty-one of the 35 applicants demonstrated a clear progression to self-authorship. This study has numerous implications for practice for admissions and various student support departments on campus. Through the collaboration of these offices, institutions can create a continuity of care surrounding these students and champion them to a degree. / Educational Administration

Because most academic advisement programs were established to accomodate traditional student populations, it was the purpose of this study to compare the effectiveness of these systems as perceived by traditional and non-traditional undergraduate students at three of Tennessee's regional universities. Traditional and non-traditional students were also compared on the extent to which they exhibit self-directed learning. A comparison of mean scores was made for responses made to items contained in the American College Testing (ACT) Survey of Academic Advising, including the total mean score for the Oddi Continuing Learning Inventory (OCLI) between traditional/non-traditional students, full-time/part-time students, students at the three universities, males/females, students of different races, and married/unmarried students. There were no significant differences found as to the perception of overall advisement effectiveness between traditional/non-traditional students, full-time/part-time students, students at the three universities, males/females, students of different races, or married/unmarried students. However, differences were found among the groups. Part-time students were more satisfied with the performance of their advisors in relation to various questions than full-time students. Non-traditional students were generally more satisfied with their personal relationship with their advisors and also obtained a higher mean score on the OCLI than traditional students. Significant differences were found among students responding from the three universities to questions regarding advisor availability, referrals by advisors, and the initiation of meetings on the part of the advisor. It is recommended that academic advisement programs be evaluated on a continuing basis and that advisors be made available to meet the needs of various groups represented in each college, especially part-time and non-traditional students. It is also recommended that more research be conducted relative to the various groups that presently make up student populations as to possible correlation between various individual and group characteristics that might impact academic advisement. Included in those additional studies could be examination of differences of perceived advisement between students at various types and sizes of institutions as well as a comparison of perceived advisement effectiveness between institutions having various student/advisor ratios. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

An increase in nontraditional student enrollment continues in community colleges nationwide. Little is known about the interactions between mixed-age groups of students. This qualitative collective case study explored the academic and social influences of non-traditional students on their traditional peers in the community college classroom at a large, midwestern 2-year college. Tinto's interactionalist theory framed the study. Purposeful sampling was used to select 30 participants (13 traditional students, 13 non-traditional students, and 4 instructors) who represented the college population in terms of gender and racial and ethnic diversity. Interview questions were guided by the research questions, and data were also analyzed through inductive analysis. Data were hand-coded and a constant comparative method was used to categorize data into common themes. Findings indicated that non-traditional students play a positive role in community college classrooms. They serve as mentors to their traditional classmates, building relationships and sharing life and work experiences, as well as positive behaviors that contribute to traditional students' overall success. The positive influences the data revealed from interactions between nontraditional and traditional students included improvement in learning, retention, engagement, and confidence. Findings contributed to social change as nontraditional students' influence on traditional students could serve as a catalyst for practices that will benefit all community college students.

Many administrators and faculty within higher education institutions have grappled with identifying and employing effective strategies to facilitate student success and persistence. The current study focuses on assessing nontraditional students' self-efficacy beliefs and their perception of the orientation program at a 2-year continuing education program in a Caribbean nation. The study is important as the findings have the potential to increase nontraditional students' persistence and learning. Bandura's social cognitive theory and the theory of self-efficacy served as the theoretical frameworks of this sequential mixed-methods design study. The quantitative research questions examined the reported self-efficacy levels of 77 participants and nonparticipants in the orientation program. The qualitative research questions focused on 10 nontraditional students' perceptions of how the orientation program they participated in impacted their ability to complete and succeed in their course of study. A survey that combined 2 preestablished instruments was used in the quantitative phase and follow-up face-to-face interviews for the qualitative phase of the study. A ttest analysis showed no statistically significant difference between the self-efficacy of participants and nonparticipants in the focal orientation program. A pattern coding of the interviews revealed 5themes from the qualitative phase, ranging from nontraditional students' challenges to self-efficacy and persistence in the program. A policy recommendation in the form of a white paper was used to convey the findings of this study to the major stakeholders at the target institution. The recommendations from the study may contribute to positive social change as they can improve nontraditional students' performance, increase completion rates at the institution, and positively impact economic growth of the wider community.

There is a lack of empirical research on the motivational regulation and reactions of higher education students enrolled in blended courses. Studies that target this focus with nontraditional adult learners enrolled in the community college are even more difficult to locate. In this mixed-methods exploratory case study, I explored in what ways nontraditional adult learners' motivational regulation and their motivational reactions to course design relate to their perceived learning experience in a blended technology course with a flipped design. Specifically, I investigated how nontraditional community college students described their goals for participating in a blended course prior to the start of the class, in what ways they utilized motivational regulation strategies within the course, how they described their motivational reactions to a blended course developed with a flipped design, and how they perceived their goal accomplishments at the end of the course. The following A Priori questions guided my research: 1. In what ways do five nontraditional community college students describe their goals for participating in a blended technology course with a flipped design prior to the start of the class? 2. How do these students describe their motivational regulation experiences in the blended technology course on their responses to the Motivational Regulation Strategies Questionnaire? 3. How do these students perceive the motivational aspects of the course design as measured by the Course Interest Survey? 4. In what ways do these students perceive they achieved their described goals at the end of the course? I collected quantitative and qualitative data in the Fall semester of 2017 from five purposefully selected nontraditional adult community college learners who voluntarily engaged in the inquiry. I used several data collection instruments throughout the study. I collected quantitative data via three questionnaires: (1) a Demographics, Goals, and Interest Survey (2) the Motivational Regulation Strategies questionnaire, and (3) the Course Interest Survey. I gathered qualitative data through (1) participant electronic journals, (2) semi-structured interviews and (3) a researcher's reflective journal. There are both practical and theoretical implications to this study. The results of this research suggest guidelines on how to design an effective blended course for nontraditional students enrolled in the community college arena. The information gleaned might be used to further develop and redesign future blended courses for nontraditional community college students who seek alternative modes of content delivery for the purposes of continued learning and convenience of integration into their busy lifestyles. The findings from this study contribute to at least two bodies of empirical research literature: (1) motivational regulation strategies employed by nontraditional community college students and the (2) development of blended courses with motivational design to help nontraditional community college adult learners obtain their learning goals.

The enrollment of military/veteran students at U.S. colleges and universities is growing steadily; however, factors affecting their academic success need further investigation. Guided by Tinto's student integration model and Bean and Metzner's model of nontraditional student attrition, the relationships between student characteristics and academic success for military/veteran, and civilian students were investigated. For this nonexperimental study, preentry characteristics (military/civilian status, race/ethnicity, age, gender, transfer credits) as well as 1st-year academic performance (total terms attended and grade point average [GPA]) archived in 393 students' records were examined to determine whether these variables predicted 4 student success measures: retention after 1 year, associate degree (AA) within 4 years, bachelor's degree (BA) within 8 years, and final GPA. Binary logistic regression and ordinary least squares multiple regression were conducted for the 3 retention/graduation measures and GPA, respectively. Significant findings indicated that Black students were more likely than White students to complete both AA and BA degrees and military, but not veterans, were more likely than civilians to earn AA degrees. Age was a positive predictor for earning a BA degree and a higher final GPA; transfer credits and total terms attended predicted student retention and AA degree completion; first-year GPA only predicted final GPA. Based on outcomes from this military-focused college, which showed the academic potential of two student groups often deemed less academically successful (military and Black students), colleges that focus on military students' success can better prepare these students for degree completion.

The purpose of this study was to understand how a sense of belonging contributes to graduation persistence among nontraditional Hispanic college students. The collectivist culture among these adult learners often results in family and work obligations that curtail their pursuit of higher education. The voices of these students are mostly absent in the current literature and warrant the current research study. Sense of belonging and retention theory formed the conceptual framework for this phenomenological study. A purposeful sample of 16 nontraditional Hispanic students enrolled in a 2-year community college in Southwest Texas participated in interviews. Data analysis focused on themes from the participants' responses to a series of open-ended questions. Four themes emerged: financial difficulties, college schedules, flexibility in work-school schedule, and family obligations. From the perspectives of these students, their basic needs did not differ from the needs of the traditional college students enrolled in 2-year community college; however, they perceived their access to the college's resources and services seemed to be greater than that of traditional students. These findings suggest that, in order to support nontraditional Hispanic students, institutions must provide access to support services beyond the business-hour model.

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