Adult Learner Basics
The term “adult learner” is a relatively intuitive designation for students who are, in general, older than the “traditional” population of 18-to-24 year-olds who make up the majority of those enrolled at most postsecondary institutions. Another label that is commonly used for this demographic is “nontraditional student,” and it is worth noting that both of these terms are used almost exclusively within the context of undergraduate education. This latter designation lacks the descriptive specificity of the former, however, and some argue that the label “nontraditional student” suggests an insider/outsider binary that brands the nontraditional student as “Other" (Gulley), which can and in all probability does adversely impact how these students are treated and the likelihood they will succeed (Bash 14). For these reasons, “adult learner” is the more accurate and less problematic descriptor for this population of students.
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This is not to say that the term “adult learner” is entirely fitting either, however. Traditionally-aged students are as much legal adults as adult learners are, and students who are traditionally-aged may not possess “traditional” characteristics. For example, there are many students who, upon graduating from high school, immediately enlist in the military or obtain a full-time job before ultimately enrolling in college. Even if these students are traditionally-aged at the time of their enrollment, they can hardly be considered traditional – i.e., straight-out-of-high-school – students.
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All of this is to say that while terms such as “traditional student” or “adult learner” provide a ready-set inventory of traits and age markers from which educators can conceptualize their students, in reality, learners do not fall into finite categories so easily, and the categories themselves are imperfect. In the case of adult learners, therefore, these students are not only distinguished by age. Rather, adult learners are more accurately identified as those who have experienced a break in their formal education.
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Adult Learner Enrollment Trends
Most postsecondary enrollment data distinguish adult learners by age. However, as the figures below demonstrate, the threshold age for adult learner status sometimes varies. This can make comparing and interpreting enrollment data on adult learners somewhat challenging, not to mention the fact that there are almost certainly traditionally-aged students who would, by virtue of having experienced a break between high school and college, be designated as adult learners. These limitations aside, certain insights can be gleaned from investigating such data, the most notable of which being that adult learners are not as readily visible as their traditionally-aged counterparts: they are more likely to enroll part-time and in distance education courses than traditionally-aged students. These enrollment trends and their implications are discussed in greater detail below.
1. Adult Learners are unlikely to enroll full-time, and those that do tend to enroll at private for-profit institutions.
The National Center for Education Statistics' most recent report on undergraduate enrollment by age indicates that adult learners (i.e., those over the age of 24) comprise only a small percentage of students enrolled full-time at 4-year public and private nonprofit institutions (see fig. 1). At 4-year private for-profit institutions, however, adult learners are the majority, constituting 69 percent of full-time undergraduate enrollment (see fig. 1). Across all 4-year institution types, adult learners are consistently and significantly more abundant as part-time students: they make up over 40 percent of students enrolled part-time at public nonprofit institutions, over 60 percent at private nonprofit institutions, and a whopping 80 percent at private for-profit institutions (“Characteristics of Postsecondary Students”).
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At 2-year colleges, adult learners make up a greater percentage of both full- and part-time students than their 4-year counterparts at all but private for-profit schools; nevertheless, they are still in the minority at nonprofit institutions (see fig. 1). However, of those enrolled full-time at private for-profit institutions, adult learners comprise just over 50 percent of the undergraduate population (see fig. 1). As for those enrolled part-time, the percentage of adult learners at 2-year nonprofit institutions is roughly equal to that of 4-year nonprofit institutions (“Characteristics of Postsecondary Students”). At 2-year for-profit colleges, on the other hand, adult learners constitute 67 percent of part-time undergraduate students (“Characteristics of Postsecondary Students”).
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That adult learners more often choose to enroll part-time speaks to their busy lives and manifold responsibilities; however, the fact that they gravitate toward private for-profit institutions is somewhat troubling. In general, retention and graduation rates for 4-year for-profit institutions are significantly lower than nonprofit institutions’ (“Undergraduate Retention and Graduation Rates”), and tuition costs for for-profit institutions are usually far greater than public nonprofits (“Price of Attending an Undergraduate Institution”). Furthermore, undergraduates at both 2-year and 4-year for-profit institutions typically take on greater student loan debt than even those enrolled at private nonprofit institutions (“Loans for Undergraduate Students”), making for-profit schools the most financially burdensome of all institution types. The only partial exception to this predicament is 2-year for-profit institutions. Interestingly, they retain students at rates comparable to nonprofit institutions, and they considerably exceed graduation rates of 2-year public nonprofit colleges (“Undergraduate Retention and Graduation Rates”). Nevertheless, by and large, adult learners are enrolling at institutions that are statistically less likely to serve them well, and they are assuming greater debt than most students in order to do so.
2. Adult Learners are more likely to enroll in distance education courses and programs than traditionally-aged students.
In another recent report, the National Center for Education Statistics determined that a higher percentage of adult learners (in this case, those over the age of 23) enrolled in distance education courses and programs than traditionally-aged students (see fig. 2). The reasons for this are likely related to the characteristics of adult learners. For example, adult learners are more likely to be employed than traditionally-aged students, and this report found that “student participation in distance education classes and programs was higher for employed students” – and employment status excludes work-study and assistantships – than unemployed students (“Distance Education in Postsecondary Institutions”). Adult learners are also more likely to be enrolled part-time (“Characteristics of Postsecondary Students”), and this report likewise determined that “a higher percentage of part-time undergraduates than full-time undergraduate students took distance education classes (39 vs. 29 percent) or took their entire program through distance education (7 vs. 6 percent)” (“Distance Education in Postsecondary Institutions”). This is not to say that adult learners enroll in distance education courses and programs more so than they do seated, on-campus courses and programs, but these data do suggest that distance education courses appeal more to adult learners than they do traditionally-aged students.
3. Adult Learners are less likely to persist in their postsecondary degree programs than traditionally-aged students.
According to a recent report by the National Student Clearinghouse, entering adult learners (in this case, those over the age of 24) had a persistence rate of just 52.7 percent (see fig. 3), while their traditionally-aged peers persisted at a rate of 78.2 percent. This is likely due, at least in part, to the enrollment tendencies of adult learners. Persistence and retention rates among part-time students – of which, adult learners make up a considerable share – are significantly lower than those for full-time students, and those enrolled at for-profit institutions are similarly less likely to persist in their degree programs than students enrolled at nonprofit institutions (National Student Clearinghouse). These data indicate that adult learners may not be receiving the institutional support necessary for them to succeed, and it is for this reason that WPAs should be especially attuned to the adult learner populations their program(s) serve.
