Often referred to as “non-traditional” students – since they are typically older than the traditional 18-22-year-olds on campus and are often balancing the multiple responsibilities of work, family and school – this older demographic of students are rapidly becoming the norm.  Numbering more than 20 million students in the US, adult students are now found in credit and non-credit programs ranging from coding boot camps and Executive Education to community colleges, degree completion programs and all the way through to Executive Doctorate programs. 

And yet, despite this significant and growing presence, there are clear signs that their presence on campus is being ignored.  And it is not only being ignored by the schools themselves.  Equally critically, they are being passed over by education technology companies working so hard to sell their latest and greatest tools for improving student satisfaction and degree completion.

As you direct and allocate your resources toward student satisfaction and degree completion, consider the influence adult students have on the following:

1. Donations and Alumni engagement – at an average age of 28 to 32 when they start their journey with your institution, the adult students are already earning incomes and are nearly a decade closer to becoming the target demographic for significant institutional giving.  As their numbers surge beyond the “traditional” students, can you afford to ignore a focus on their engagement as alumni? 
2. Recruiting and Admissions – adult students just as proudly wear your institutional swag and brag to family and friends of their educational accomplishments as the 18-year olds on campus.  And most importantly, they have the capability to influence prospective students of all ages – their children, their peers, their co-workers.  Their sphere of influence is significant.
3. Faculty research – adult students bring real life and real time experiences into the classroom.  Faculty interactions can benefit research interests and make immediate connections from classroom-based learning directly into the workplace.
4. Entrepreneurship – faculty and students have the opportunity to incubate new ideas and to bring them into the corporate environment in real time.  Both adult students and the faculty have the opportunity to try high-risk options with low-risk impact.
5. Corporate partnerships – working adult students are often a key point of entry into corporations – leading to mutually beneficial relationships with organizations – both for educational partnerships but also for research endeavors and joint entrepreneurial centers of innovation.