Noncognitive indicators of academic success of nontraditional older students: Toward equal access to higher education

This survey research investigated a selective set of noncognitive characteristics of academically successful nontraditional older students in a community college environment. Empirical research has identified these characteristics in traditional age students as being influential in their academic success. Successful nontraditional students were defined as students age 35 and over who had completed at least half of their program requirements for obtaining the associate degree. The significant aspect of this research is that the students had begun their college studies with documented, academic deficiencies in the cognitive areas of English, mathematics, and reading. The number of students entering college immediately upon graduation from high school is rapidly declining. Many colleges and universities are seeing a significant rise in the age of their students. Adults, whose formal education has been interrupted by a series of life events, are returning to the classroom for a variety of reasons. They are required to follow the same admission procedures as their younger counterparts. Standardized testing of cognitive ability is included in the admissions process. Rarely are the skills, knowledge, and attitudes acquired by older students as a result of their life experiences, considered as legitimate criteria for assessing their academic potential. The findings of this research indicate that nontraditional older students and traditional age college students have similar noncognitive traits that empirical research has documented to be influential in academic achievement. If colleges and universities continue to rely on traditional testing measures for admission, they will likely reject many adults who could have been successful students if the qualitative dimensions of their cognition had been assessed