Adult Learners Postsecondary Academic Persistence - Dissertation Example

Adult Learners Postsecondary Academic Persistence Q It is evident that the last three decades has witnessed an increasein registration or enrollment of mature students. At the present, there are over 12 million students in U.S. colleges and 2 of 5 of these are believed to be adult students. Actually, most community colleges rely on mature students with most of them learning part-time and staying outside the school. In the recent past, the mode of enrollment for most students has undergone a transformation with majority of them preferring to commute to and back from colleges (Bean and Metzner 485). The rise in the number of mature students was occasioned by massive dropouts of traditional students thus forcing college administrators to come up with a model that could take in mature students to replace those who were dropping out. Despite the high number of adult students joining colleges, trends also show that such students have an unlikely possibility of completing their studies. Majority of the non-traditional students live outside the school setting and this aspect alone sets them apart from the traditional students. Majority of these non-traditional are also part-timers since most of them are either working or taking care of families. Due to lack of adequate contact with the student’s faculty, non-traditional students are less likely to complete their study program (Bean and Metzner 485). Q.2 Commuter can come from any part of the country. Given the nature of these students, they are unable to reside within the schools and they therefore have to commute hence earning themselves the name commuter students. On their part, traditional students are classified as 18-24 years and they attend college full-time. By virtue of being mature, the commuter students have already developed self-control and values that usually come with being mature. This makes them less susceptible to socialization unlike their traditional counterparts (Garni 465). In many instances, traditional students are registered for degree programs than any other. While on the other hand, commuter students might be registered for a degree or any other programs. The commuter student is not mostly likely to be affected by what the college has to offer and most of them do not continue with the program after they are assured that they have attained the qualification that they were looking for. Most commuter students are usually in a certain location for some time and if for example one is transferred from their place of work, then they have to discontinue the program. This means that commuter students are less likely to continue with their academic programs as compared to their residence counterparts (Garni 466). Q.3 It is evident; there is a clear connection between a student’s high school GPA and their college performance. Students who demonstrate a low academic performance are most likely to drop out compared to their counterparts who perform well. Research has also shown that a student’s college GPA is strongly linked to their past academic performances. Although a student’s high school grades may not be directly linked to the rate of dropout, there is a clear link between high school grades and college grades and low grades are a key factor in the rate of drop-outs (Bontrager 9). Ideally, the academic outcome has a direct link with the psychological outcome. Students who attain good grades are more likely to stay in school compared to those who perform poorly. Research shows that most commuter students had a low GPA in high school and this translates to low GPA in their college education. In reality, even if a student has a low academic outcome but get adequate psychological support, they are most likely to stay in school. However, the mode of study for the commuter students does not allow them to socialize with other students or administrators and this robs them of the much-needed psychological support. Due to a lack of this vital psychological support, most of the commuter students end up dropping out due to poor grades (Bontrager 11). Q.4 Study skills have a direct link with college persistence. Research has continuously shown that students who drop out of school have difficulty in forming right study habits. While residence students who have bad study habits are likely to stay in school due to psychological support, the opposite is true for commute students who are less likely to drop out due to lack of psychological support. Majority of the commuter students have stayed out of a learning institution for a while before joining college and this robs them of the confidence needed for one to succeed in academics (Hoops 59). Ideally, creating the right study skills means that students have to spend more time in study. Due to the nature of commuter students, they are unable to persist in their studies and this robs them of the needed study skills hence their likelihood of dropping out of school. Apart from this, older students lack the right time management a vital resource in creating the right study habits. Although there is no viable research conducted in America schools to gauge the link between time management and the rate of school dropout, it is believed that there is a strong link between poor study habits among commuter students and the high rate of drop-out among this group (Hoops 60). Q.5 One aspect that has become a common feature in all college literature is academic advising. Research conducted in the last few years in this area has shown that academic advising has a direct relationship with student persistence. The variable of academic advising is affected by issues such as the duration of contact, frequency of contact, subjects discussed, the convenience, as well as the knowledge that the advisor has on the institution. Although the studies conducted to establish the relationship between academic advising and persistence have shown inconsistent results, majority of these studies show that residence students who receive academic advising do not necessarily show persistence (Augusta et al 103). When it came to the investigation of commuter students, the results were not any different from those exhibited by residence students. Although some commuter students receive considerable academic advice, there is no notable increase in persistence among this group. Actually, it is interesting to note that majority of the commuter students that received academic advising ended up dropping out of school due to one reason or the other. It is also worth noting that those who persevere and have received academic advising think that it does not help a lot as compared to those who dropped out after receiving academic advising. The reason for this lack of effect for this program is because the beneficiaries of this program are dissatisfied with it in its current form (Augusta et al 103). Q.6 Another aspect that has received considerable research when it comes to college persistence is major certainty. Naturally, many students joining college are unsure of the major that they are supposed to pursue and only make this critical decision after academic advising or by choosing what their peers favor. Research in this area has proved that a student who is certain of their major has a very high likelihood of persisting compared to a student who is not certain (Augusta et al 104). Naturally, students attending commuter colleges with major certainty are most likely to persist through the program since there is a possibility that they had a major reason of enrolling into the program. Actually, majority of the traditional students join college because it is their next phase of the academic cycle unlike non-traditional students who join college to pursue a definite major. This certainty explains why most aged students are more likely to persist unlike traditional students who might not have a specific major that they want to pursue. Following this analysis, it is therefore certain that there is a big association between major certainty and persistence (Augusta et al 105). Q.7 The aspect of course availability has received some considerable research over the years, although a student might be certain of the major that they want to pursue, one might develop a burning desire to pursue another course during their course of study. This phenomenon can happen to both traditional and aged students. When this happens, it is therefore, apparent that the availability of the course that the student would want to pursue clearly determines whether the student would persist in that particular college or drop out. For traditional students, only the course availability, but for mature students, they consider whether to commence of the course in line with their learning schedule (Bean and Metzner 502). In investigating this matter, research (Garni 461) has shown that the unavailability of a desired course in any institution is a major contributing factor in both aged and traditional students. Actually, course unavailability plays a major role in the dropout of students who might have transferred to a certain institution from another university. Ideally, students who do not drop out despite the absence of their preferred course cannot necessarily be said to be happy in their current institution. The research on this subject shows that both traditional and non-traditional students might be okay with the scheduling of their courses but the unavailability of their preferred course would lead them to withdraw from the program. However, this trend is only seen in mature students since they join college with a fixed mindset on what they want to achieve unlike traditional students who are open to options (Bean and Metzner 503). Q.8 Finances play a great role in any college education in many instances than it is recognized. This explains why there has been heightened attention in determining the role played by money or lack of it in student attrition. In a large part, traditional students have their education paid for while mature students have to finance their own education. For traditional students, the financial status of parents plays a significant role in determining whether they persist in their students or not while for non-traditional students, their perception about their financial status determines whether they continue with their education or not (Bontrager 16). For non-traditional students, one of the major reasons for joining college is to improve their financial status either by acquiring better employment or something similar. Even before joining college, such students have financial concerns but this does not necessarily make them drop out of college since they are more committed to their education. Although financial concerns only lead to a small percentage of college dropouts, there is an increased rate of college dropouts in cases where these difficulties become acute. These statistics are constant for both the traditional and the non-traditional students and this proves that finances are an important variable that should be considered when it comes to the discussion of college attrition (Bontrager 18). Q.9 A student’s rate of absenteeism is an important variable when it comes to the discussion of college attrition. It is interesting to note that very little has been written regarding the association between absenteeism and college dropout. However, the few studies that have been written regarding this matter has shown that students who are constantly absent from school and lack academic confidence are most likely to drop out of school. It is possible that students who are academically confident and often absent from college, are less likely to drop or leave school. Ideally, students with lower grades are more likely to be absent from school and to drop out as compared to their counterparts who are bright and absent from school at the same time (Garni 472). Although no significant study has been done to address the issue of absenteeism and college attrition among mature students, it is an accepted fact that mature students are more likely to stay out of college due to family responsibilities or other commitments and this eventually leads them to drop out of college altogether. Although there are different reasons why traditional and non-traditional students who are constantly absent from college end up dropping out, the truth is that there is a strong correlation between these two factors (Garni 477). Works Cited Augusta, Byron, Adam Cota, Kartik Jayaran, and Martha Laboisser. Winning by Degrees: The Strategies of Highly Productive Higher Education Institutions. New York: McKinsey &Company, 2010. Print. Bean, John, and Barbara Metzner. “A Conceptual Model of Nontraditional Undergraduate Student Attrition”. Review of Educational Research, 55 (4): 1985. 485-540. Print. Bontrager, Brown. “Strategic Enrollment Management: Core Strategies and Best Practices”. College and University, 79 (4): 2004, 9-15. Print. Garni, Keith. “Urban commuter students: Counseling for survival”. Journal of College Student Personnel, 15: 1974. 465-483. Print. Hoops, John. Educational Attainment Strategies of Working Adults and Nontraditional Students: Applying New Models in Postsecondary Education. Washington, DC: Future Works, 2011. Print. Read More