Barriers For The Mature Student

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) Barriers for the Mature Student The college campuses of today are very different than those of years past, as many mature students are going back to school. These students have different needs than the traditional student they tend to want additional job skills for a new job or continuing education for the position they have now, but a few are still looking for the traditional college degree. Whatever the reason for returning to school the older student faces many challenges that the traditional student does not encounter. When I was a teenager in high school you graduated and went to college, to work, or in my case, started a family. Choosing the family option, I felt that going to college was something I had passed up for my children, but now that my children are grown I am starting college, which I would have never believed this when I was in high school. Today, it is not so uncommon for people to return to school after twenty-five, some even wait until their sixties to undertake going to college. Between the years of 1999 and 2000, the National Center of Education Statistics states that 40 percent of all students were over 25, and most were attending part-time and had dependents(NCES). With that in mind it is interesting to observe that the non-traditional students are more likely to perform higher academically , even with the added responsibility, than there traditional counterparts(Carlan, 2001). One of the challenges faced by the mature student is financing their education; this is probably one of the biggest considerations to be made. Traditional college students tend to only have to provide for themselves, and many have assistance from family or even still live at home. While your non-traditional student many times have other responsibilities, including homes, jobs, children or even parents to consider when making the financial decisions on
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