Nontraditional College Students

“Refining the ‘Typical’ College Student” by Tressie McMillan Cottom. A writer for Slate and PhD candidate in sociology at Emory College. Tressie argues that higher education reforms should reflect nontraditional students more because they are older with more responsibilities and obligations. The article is discussing Obama’s affordability plan and how it is not beneficial to most students attending college. A nontraditional college student is typically a student who is older and attending college years after graduating high school. Many of these students are part-time with other obligations to attend to. Which is why a four- year enrollment isn’t ideal for these types of students. Therefore, to further their education many, of these students look for certain accommodations before choosing a college. Some of these accommodations are location and school access. Many nontraditional students are
Obama’s plan is flawed. The purpose of the rating system is to distribute aid better amongst colleges. With creating a ranking system that focuses on “quality” many, colleges will fall short of receiving aid. There are many types of colleges in the United States to choose from: Ivy League, Big 10, state, public, private, and community colleges. The colleges with the “better quality” will most likely be the Ivy League and Big Ten colleges. The aid money will then likely go to those colleges more abundantly. In addition to possibly causing colleges to close, leaving many nontraditional students is the same predicament. Older adult students are increasing their share of higher education enrollment: “38 percent of college students in 2011 were 24 or older (McMillan).” Nontraditional students represent a large share of the student population and, they deserve to the help. Students are unable to afford college as is, let alone a ranking system to increase the price. The ranking system would only create a larger