Over the past decade, traditional colleges and universities have lost ground in the race to win back minority dropouts who have opted many years later to complete their degrees online.
The University of Phoenix, a for-profit owned by the Apollo Group, Inc., has steadily attracted older minority students who enjoy the flexibility of completing a degree program while working and raising a family. For many of these students, the desire to return to college has always been there, but obstacles and circumstances got in the way.
University officials say students, on average, take classes at five colleges before deciding to enroll at the open-admissions institution. The average age of a University of Phoenix undergraduate is about 36.
There is a push across academia, however, to find innovative ways to recruit and retain this population. Nontraditional students are the most at risk for quitting school, according to a report released last year by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research group headquartered in New York .
Last month, the Lumina Foundation for Education announced a new commitment to advancing adult degree attainment by providing $14.8 million in grants over four years to organizations focused on helping 6.6 million adults with some prior college credits earn a degree.
“There is growing evidence that adults who have gone to college but not received a degree are looking for a second chance but need the right kind of information and motivation to help them succeed,” says Lumina President and CEO Jamie Merisotis. “Given demographic trends and attainment rates among young adults, it is highly unlikely that the nation can meet its growing need for college-educated workers only by focusing on recent high school graduates.”
Meanwhile, Rider University, located in central New Jersey, has launched an innovative program called Fomentamos Tu Futuro targeted toward Latino adults over age 25.
College officials say Fomentamos Tu Futuro’s goal is to alleviate the obstacles that Latino adult students face in obtaining a college degree. Latino students enrolled in the program receive scholarship assistance, bilingual advisement and access to a variety of services that Rider offers to traditional students, such as career counseling and tutoring.
