Four-year
colleges and universities are still focused on course schedules and academic
services geared to the traditional 18-24 age group, which often shuts out older
students with full-time jobs and kids. Community colleges, however, are doing
better at offering more online courses and counseling, evening and weekend
classes, and summer terms to provide greater flexibility to students of all
ages, according to The Hechinger Report.
In
addition, many schools have been forced for budgetary reasons to cut out
services such as day-care centers that are disproportionately used by older
students.
“We talk
about the college-readiness of our students,” said Daniel Greenstein, director
of postsecondary success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “How
student-ready are our colleges?”
Those 25
and older account for 40% of all U.S. undergraduate and graduate students.
“These numbers, they surprise many policymakers,” Greenstein said.
On average,
older students typically take longer to graduate and a higher percentage of
them drop out altogether. Some have a hard time fitting classes into their work
schedules or when child care is available. Complicated transfer policies and
procedures also make it difficult for these students to continue their
education at another school.
