Running head: 1

Kristin E. Westad

Dean College

Author Note

This paper was prepared for English 320, Section 1, taught by Professor Mendoza

2

Abstract

There is a difference between the traditional and non-traditional student but what exactly is that

difference? How does each group differ in the way that they spend their time? The intention of

this paper is to present the data from the research that was done in order to be able to answer

those questions. The data for this paper was obtained through survey responses from both

traditional and non-traditional groups of students. The results of the survey were analyzed in

order to compare the two groups. The results obtained from the survey showed that traditional

and non-traditional students do spend their time differently as far as what they spend their time

on. However, overall the amount of time spent on school did not differ much in regards to the

amount of time spent studying versus the amount of credits being taken.

Keywords: non-traditional students, traditional students, comparison

3

Non-traditional students are returning to colleges and universities at an increasing rate

(Forbus, Newbold, & Mehta, 2011). Studies have been done on varying topics regarding the non-

traditional student. These include how their learning needs are different from those of the

traditional student’s, how the two groups differ in their causes and levels of stress, and the

different motivations that each group has for attending college. This essay will discuss the

following issues:

What is a non-traditional student?

Why is this topic important?

What is already known about this?

How was the data collected?

How does the data compare for each group?

How does this improve one’s understanding of the non-traditional and traditional

student?

What is a Non-Traditional Student?

First, we must define what a non-traditional student is. Research suggests that a general

definition of a non-traditional student is someone who has not followed a continuous educational

path into college. That is to say then that a traditional student would be one who attends straight

out of high school or shortly thereafter. Dill and Henley (1998) say “Non-traditional students can

be defined as having multiple roles (e.g., parent, employee, student) and at least 1 year between

high school and college” (p. 25). Traditional students typically do not have those multiple roles,

and are enrolled in college directly out of high school. In addition, since non-traditional students

4

are not attending straight out of high school, there tends to be an age difference between the

students in each group.

Why is This Topic Important?

The reason that I chose to write about this topic is that I myself am someone who is

considered a non-traditional student. Therefore, I can directly relate to the topic. I am 35 years

old, have three children, and attended college only intermittently after graduating from high

school until deciding to return this past fall. I now intend to go full time until I graduate. This

gives me an advantage of knowing what it was like to attend college directly out of high school

versus what it is like going back at this time in my life. I perceived many differences between the

two but was interested in learning more about it. When I began searching for a topic for the paper

I at first was interested in knowing if the non-traditional student encountered more stress than the

traditional one, and how each might handle stress differently. However, once I started to research

the topic, I found that the subject involves looking at many different aspects of each group of

students’ lives, and that I would not have the time or resources to be able to adequately answer

that question.

For me, I can see many advantages and disadvantages in being a non-traditional student.

The main disadvantage that I see is the time factor. I never seem to have enough time in one 24-

hour period to be able to do all of the things that need to be done. However, at the same time I

feel I have an advantage in attending school at the age I am now. I have already experienced a

great deal in my life, and I feel I am able to “connect the dots” more easily when being

introduced with a new topic. That is to say, I see the topic more clearly than I would have 15

years ago because of the experiences that I have already had. I am also so much more interested

in learning the different topics than I was earlier in my life. I am returning to school not just to

5

obtain that degree but also for the satisfaction of learning in and of itself. Prior to returning to

school, I found my life to be rather boring. I felt myself searching for something but I was not

sure what it was. After going back to school, I seemed to find exactly what it was. It is the

fulfillment that I feel inside from learning. I do not think I was capable of experiencing college at

this level right out of high school.

I think the whole topic of the non-traditional student deserves a great deal more research

than I had the time to do. Therefore, it was my hope to just open the door a bit to look at the

similarities and differences between the traditional and non-traditional student.

Some Background Information

Forbus et al. (2011) published an article in the International Journal of Education

Research (IJER), in which she discussed the results of a survey that was conducted at a 4-year

university. The survey’s purpose was to investigate how different aspects of non-traditional

students’ lives compared to those of traditional students. The survey included questions about the

students’ relationship status, the number of hours they worked, the amount of time spent

commuting, their expectations of college, their involvement in campus activities, and how they

spent and managed their time. With the results of the survey, Forbus made some significant

conclusions about how traditional and non-traditional students do and do not differ. First, she

said, “There is no significant difference between a non-traditional student's overall stress than

that of a traditional student” (p. 9). Also, Forbus’ study found that both traditional and non-

traditional students worked but differed in the amount of hours that they did. Non-traditional

students were more likely to work full-time and attend class part-time while traditional students

do the opposite.

6

How was the Data Collected?

A survey was created in order to obtain data that could be used to compare the traditional

and non-traditional students. Students were divided into two groups based on their enrollment

status at Dean College, and then students from each group were sent the survey. In order to

separate the responses for each type of student, there were two surveys with the same questions

sent out. The first group was comprised of fulltime day students, and the second was part-time

night students. The surveys consisted of eight questions regarding how much time the student

spent on certain activities such as their commute, class related activities, co-curricular activities,

free time activities, personal commitments, and working at a job where they were paid. They

were also asked how many credits they were taking and what age group they were in.

Comparing the Data

Figures 1 through 8 of this essay display charts in order to compare the data. Each chart

shows the percentage of students from each group that answered a certain way for each of the

questions asked on the survey. Most of the data received showed major differences between the

traditional and non-traditional student.

The first difference that one can see is shown in Figure 1 on the number of course credits

being taken. The majority of traditional students take between twelve and eighteen credits

whereas the majority of non-traditional students take between six and eleven. Most classes at

Dean are worth three credits. This means the majority of traditional students take four to six

classes per semester whereas the majority of non-traditional students take two to three classes per

semester. The obvious difference here is workload. Fewer classes usually equates to less work.

However, when we look at the rest of the data we will see that this does not necessarily mean less

time spent outside of the classroom on class related activities.

7

Another major difference between the two groups is the amount of time spent working, as

shown in Figure 2. While the overwhelming majority, just about 83%, of non-traditional students

answered that they work more than thirty hours per week, the majority, about 64%, of traditional

students answered that they do not currently have a job. In addition, of the traditional students

that do have jobs, none answered that they worked more than thirty hours per week. This

difference also makes sense since part of the definition of a non-traditional student is having

multiple roles while most traditional students’ focus is on college and all that it involves. One can

conclude that working consumes a large amount of the non-traditional student’s time.

The question in Figure 3 focused on the amount of time each group spent on commuting

to and from Dean. Since most traditional students live on campus, it was not surprising that the

majority of them, just about 85%, answered “0” for this question. Therefore, one can conclude

that commuting does not take up much, if any, of the traditional student’s time. As far as the non-

traditional students, their answers ranged quite a bit – all the way from “0” to more than 45

minutes. An interesting observation about their responses was that they were symmetrically

distributed. Therefore, the amount of time spent by the non-traditional student can vary from

very little to a great deal.

Figure 4 shows how students answered the question regarding the number of hours per

week spent outside of class on class related activities. Traditional students’ answers varied from

1-5 hours, 26%, 6-10 hours, 56%, 11-20 hours, 13%, and more than 20 hours, 5%. Non-

traditional students’ answers also varied with 54% indicating 1-5 hours per week, 37% saying 6-

10 hours per week, and 9% answering 11-20 hours per week. What is interesting about this

comparison is that one would think that if the non-traditional student takes about half the amount

of credits that the traditional student does that their outside class related activities should be half

8

as well. However, 37% of non-traditional students answered 6-10 hours per week, which is a

significant amount. This might suggest that the non-traditional student takes more time studying

or learning the material than does the traditional student. This would make sense for the non-

traditional students who may not have attended school for years whereas most traditional

students are coming directly out of high school. It might also suggest that there are different

levels of commitment between traditional and non-traditional students, however this cannot be a

for sure conclusion.

Another area where the two groups differed was the number of hours per week spent on

personal commitments, as shown in Figure 5. The majority of non-traditional students answered

either 11-20 or more than 20 hours per week, each consisting of 31% of the answers. None of the

non-traditional students answered 0 hours per week. The majority of traditional students, 64%,

answered that they spend 1-5 hours per week on personal commitments and 13% did answer 0

hours per week. This again confirms the non-traditional student definition because non-

traditional students tend to have families with children, which is bound to take up a good amount

of one’s time.

An expected difference was confirmed in the question shown in Figure 6 regarding the

number of hours per week spent on Dean related co-curricular activities. The overwhelming

majority of the non-traditional students, 94 %, answered 0 hours per week whereas the majority

of traditional students, 46%, answered 1-10 hours per week. This shows a stark difference

between the traditional and the non-traditional student, and really emphasizes how different

each’s priorities are. While traditional students are getting involved in on-campus activities, it

would seem that the non-traditional students are not. The likely reason for this is that they are

spending more of their time taking care of other responsibilities, such as jobs and families.

9

However, this leads to an interesting opportunity for colleges. Perhaps the reason the non-

traditional students are not involved in on-campus activities is that there are not any that are

targeted towards them.

Figure 7 shows how students answered the question about how many hours per week they

spend on “free time” activities. I was particularly interested in seeing these results because I

anticipated that the “free time” hours would be much less for the non-traditional students than for

the traditional ones. However, as it turns out, the two groups were similar in their responses. The

majority of traditional students answered either 1-5 hours per week, 44%, or 6-10 hours per

week, 39%. Another 15% said 11-15 hours per week, 2.5% said over 15 hours per week, and no

one answered 0 hours per week. The majority of non-traditional students also either answered 1-

5 hours per week, 40%, or 6-10 hours per week, 34%. Another 23% said 11-15 hours per week,

3% said 0 hours per week, and no one answered over 15 hours per week. The answers indicated

that perhaps both the traditional and non-traditional student each have an equal amount of free

time on their hands, which is the opposite of what I thought it would be. This is because in my

personal situation, I am in that 3% that would have answered 0 hours per week.

Figure 8 shows the age range of each group of students, and the responses were not much

of a surprise. The majority of traditional students, 92%, answered that they were between 17 and

23 years old whereas the majority of the non-traditional students, 60%, answered that they were

over the age of 40.

Understanding the Non-Traditional and Traditional Student

The research that was done for this paper helped in understanding the non-traditional and

traditional student. From the results of the survey, I can see that although each group may differ

in the way that they spend their time, each consists of students that have busy lives with activities

10

that take up a majority of their time. I think what I was looking for when I started this was an

answer to a personal question my own that I often think about. The question is whether I would

have been better off completing college as a traditional student rather than at the time that I am

now in my life. The conclusion that I seem to have come to is no. I think that the benefits that I

receive by learning at this stage in my life far outweighs the things that, in my opinion, make it a

little more difficult than it might have been. I feel that the amount of understanding that I have in

what I am studying will benefit me after I have completed my education. However, I do wonder

if that ever really happens. For me, I think that I will finish a formal education by receiving my

degree but as far as completing the learning part of it – I think that is a lifelong process that gets

better with age.

11

References

Dill, P. L., & Henley, T. B. (1998, January). Stressors of college: A comparison of traditional and

nontraditional students [Electronic version]. The Journal of Psychology, 132(1), 25-32.

doi:213833883

Forbus, P., Newbold, J. J., & Mehta, S. S. (2011, November). A study of non-traditional and

traditional students in terms of their time management behaviors, stress factors, and

coping strategies [Electronic version]. Academy of Educational Leadership

Journal, 15(S1), 109-125. doi:273616190

12

Figures

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

13

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

14

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

15

Figure 7.

Figure 8.