More Nontraditional Students Are Applying to College. Here’s How Schools Can Support Them.
Credit: Pekic / E+ / Getty Images- A new Common App report reveals more independent students are applying to college.
- These students come from lower-income households and are less academically prepared for college.
- Independent students also have lower graduation rates than other students.
- Support for these students may include flexible schedules and online classes to accommodate work and family obligations.
It seems antiquated, if not entirely erroneous, to refer to today’s nontraditional college students as “nontraditional.”
After all, they now constitute a majority of students across American higher education.
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The Common App has been tracking college applications and completion rates among this group, though it doesn’t use the term “nontraditional.” Instead, it calls them “independent students.”
In its latest report, the Common App defines independent students as follows: over the age of 23; active-duty military personnel or veterans; those with dependent children; and those not living with a parent or legal guardian, who may be wards of the state.
Students who fit these definitions are applying to college in greater numbers, the report reveals.
In fact, all four groups showed considerable growth over the past eight years, more than doubling the number of applications between 2016 and 2024. For the subgroup of applicants over the age of 23, the growth rate was 223%.
During that span, the increase among all domestic first-year applications was just over 55%.
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That’s the good news. The more sobering news is that many of these students come from less resourced backgrounds than their “traditional” counterparts and are less prepared for college.
Students in these categories are more likely to be first-generation college-goers, to request an application fee waiver, and to live in an area where the median household income falls below the national average.
They also have lower average high school GPAs (3.24 versus 3.65 for other students) and lower standardized test scores.
What’s more, these students submit fewer applications. Older students submitted 1.9 applications on average, and military-affiliated students submitted 2.7. Overall, Common App students submitted 6.6.
Independent students are also more apt to apply to in-state colleges and less-selective institutions. And they’re more likely to attend community colleges instead of four-year schools.
The report posits that many of these students lack information about higher education and cannot rely on high school guidance counselors to help them navigate the admissions process, so they’re more inclined to apply to fewer colleges, especially local ones with which they’re familiar.
Yet the truly distressing news pertains to completion rates.
Among students over the age of 23, the six-year degree completion rate was 54.2%. For parenting students, it was 63.9%.
For first-generation students overall, the rate during the eight-year span was almost 70%, and for students outside these independent groups, it was 82.8%.
In sum, relative to other college applicants, independent students are less academically prepared, come from less affluent households, apply to fewer colleges and favor those closer to home, attend two-year colleges in greater numbers, and complete degrees at lower rates.
Yet their numbers are growing. What does this mean for colleges and universities eager to welcome new populations, particularly as the imminent demographic cliff promises to dramatically reduce the number of traditional-age students?
The Common App report doesn’t offer institutions much advice in this regard, concluding that independent students “have unique needs that must be met if they will have a clear path to degrees and success after college.”
Those needs begin with the college search and application process, suggesting that colleges could do a better job of reaching out to these populations and demystifying admissions.
Once they’re enrolled, independent students require flexible schedules to accommodate work and family obligations, which is why they may be more inclined to take classes online and prefer asynchronous learning options.
Colleges might also invest more resources into financial counseling, academic advising, and career planning for these populations, helping them transition to college and eventually into the job market.
That’s not to imply institutions aren’t already offering these services, but as this “nontraditional” population continues to grow and the longstanding model of students ages 18-22 pursuing a residential education increasingly fades, colleges must continually adapt to a changing customer base with an entirely different set of demands.