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This research paper is a study of the support needs of nontraditional students in engineering (NTSE). Nontraditional students in engineering are one segment of the student body that has traditionally not been a part of the conversation in engineering education– those students who do not go through a typical four-year college degree largely at a residential campus. It is only by better understanding the range of issues that NTSE face that we will be able to design interventions and support systems that can assist them. Recent work in engineering education particularly argues that co-curricular support is a critical factor in student success as it effects curricular progress but there has been no work looking specifically at co-curricular support for NTSE and their retention and persistence. The population of NTSE is increasing across campuses as more students take on jobs to support their education and as those in the workforce return to complete their education. It is imperative that higher educational systems understand how to serve the needs of these students better. Although there are a range of ways in which nontraditional students (NTS) are defined, the NCES has proposed a comprehensive definition that includes enrollment criteria, financial and family status, and high school graduation status. Overall, the seven characteristics specifically associated with NTS are: (1) Delayed enrollment by a year or more after high school, (2) attended part-time, (3) having dependents, (4) being a single parent, (5) working full time while enrolled, (6) being financially independent from parents, and (7) did not receive a standard high school diploma. We ground our research in the Model of Co-Curricular Support (MCCS) which suggests it is the role of the institution to provide the necessary support for integration. If students are aware and have access to resources, which lead to their success, then they will integrate into the university environment at higher rates than those students who are not aware and have access to those resources. This research study focuses on answering one research question: How do NTSE engage with co-curricular supports as they progress through their degree programs? To answer this question, we recruited 11 NTSE with a range of nontraditional characteristics to complete prompted reflective journaling assignments five times throughout the Fall 2021 semester. Qualitative results showcase the nuanced lives of NTSE as they pursue their engineering degrees. In particular, results indicate students interact with faculty, classmates, and friends/peers the most, and only interact with advising when required. Students rarely reach out to larger student support for help or are involved with campus or other events happening. Classmate and friend/peer interactions are the most positive, while interactions with faculty had the largest negative outcomes.
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The Need for Equitable Scholarship Criteria for Part-Time Students
Abstract Current policies and interventions to enhance student success and retention are often tied to full-time enrollment, which are substantiated by studies associating part-time enrollment with lower retention and poorer academic outcomes. However, these findings are limited to studies of first-time college students and do not represent today’s nontraditional undergraduate who may be transfer, online, and working adult students. To enhance retention of on-campusandhybrid online 2 + 2 transfer students in a STEM undergraduate program, need-based scholarships are awarded to students enrolled full-time as stipulated by the federal granting agency. Although the scholarship has helped >80 students to date, over 40% of eligible transfer students are excluded only because they are enrolled part-time, disproportionately affecting students in the hybrid online track who are more likely to be women and underrepresented minorities. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, this study explores enrollment behavior of transfer students (online and on-campus), its relationship with student characteristics and academic outcomes, and implications for scholarship eligibility. Full-time enrollment is a significant challenge for transfer students. While scholarship requirements are a key factor influencing full-time enrollment, online transfer students additionally cite work and family obligations as drivers of enrollment behavior. Thus, online 2 + 2 transfer students face different challenges than on-campus peers and are more likely to enroll part-time out of necessity, yet still have comparable GPA and graduation rates. These findings support a growing awareness of barriers nontraditional students face questioning the relevance of policies driven by “traditional” student outcomes, which perpetuate inequity in higher education.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1643780
- PAR ID:
- 10275020
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Science + Business Media
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Innovative Higher Education
- Volume:
- 46
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0742-5627
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 461-479
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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