A Comparison of the Nontraditional Students' Experience on Traditional Versus Nontraditional College Campuses

Abstract

The majority of research on nontraditional students has been conducted in environments where they constitute a significant portion of the college population. For the most part, this research found few problems and indicated that nontraditional students' college experiences are positive. This article compares the experience of nontraditional students at two types of campuses—a traditional campus where older students constitute a small percentage of the student population and two branch campuses where there is a substantial number of older students. The findings indicate areas in which a lack of age diversity may have an impact on the nontraditional students' experience.