Nontraditionals on the rise?

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by Xidelt

I also wonder if the increase in schools offering evening and weekend programs, satellite campus locations and online programs has led to there being more nontraditional students.

Or the other way around. I think the economic downturn is giving employers the ability to be more selective in who they hire. Jobs that traditionally didn't require a 4-year degree now do just because candidates with degrees are applying for those jobs where 20 years ago they wouldn't have. People are also finding out that the degree they earned 10 years ago isn't necessarily working out for them in the current economy and are "cross-training" into a different field (like me!). I'm actually back in school myself as a non traditional going the online and satellite campus route.

[33girl]

Clarion has a regional campus in Oil City (Venango Campus), a site for nursing at West Penn, and a growing online program. There certainly aren't 1000 out of 5000 nontrad undergrads on the main campus.

I'm also betting there were way more nontrads at SRU during your time there than you realized. At Clarion they tended to keep to themselves.

[Munchkin03]

I wonder if it's just more targeted marketing towards non-traditional students, who previously may have just gone to a local commuter school and made it work somehow.

There may indeed be more of a demand, but the schools are definitely responding to that demand, and the fact that people who may not have pursued college, or may have just stuck to an AA or trade school, are going out for bachelor's degrees, is just making it that much easier for the schools to get more "bang" for their advertising buck.

We all know that for-profit colleges prey on non-traditional students looking for a leg up, and I wouldn't be surprised if real schools are doing the same thing.