A comparative study of psychosocial development in nontraditional and traditional college students

Students who do not fit the definition of the traditional student are becoming an increasingly large segment of the college population. In order to effectively promote retention in today’s college students, the student development professional must understand these changing demographic and academic characteristics. This study compared student development in nontraditional and traditional college students. Student development was measured using the Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Assessment (SDTLA). Nontraditional students were defined by the degree to which they ascribed to a set of nontraditional characteristics. This study of 163 students found that nontraditional students scored significantly lower than traditional students on all three Tasks measured by the SDTLA—Establishing and Clarifying Purpose, Developing Autonomy, and Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships. In addi-tion, the more nontraditional characteristics the student ascribed to, the lower the reported level of development. Implications for student develop-ment practice are discussed