Non-traditional students are typically over the age of 24, took at least one year off after high school, work full-time, part-time enrollment and/or have dependents, among other significant criteria. According to Modern Campus, 37% of college students are 25 or older, with 40% working full-time and 24% part-time.
Shaune Hannen, a student in Baker University’s online bachelor’s degree program, recently completed his B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis on leadership after a 10-year gap in education. Hannen attended the University of Kansas in 2009 before taking time away from school and working in information technology at the Federal Reserve for nine years.
“There is significant value in waiting,” Hannen said. “I think most people can recognize that it is not really the most fruitful to expect a 16, 17 or 18-year-old to figure out what they want to do for the rest of their lives.”
Although six-week accelerated courses are intensive, Baker’s online program offers flexible schedules, making it “extremely easy” for nontraditional students to balance life, work and schooling.
“School just fits into my life schedule now,” said Kyla Cole, a psychology major in the online program. “Many professors do their classes over Zoom and then make it available to rewatch later.”
Tyler Stone, a Business Administration major, finished his degree on Oct. 27 after about four years at Baker. He began classes in January 2020, moved out of state four times and achieved his goal of “beating” his oldest daughter to graduation.
“Three classes in, the state I’m living in actually shut itself down because of COVID,” he said. “You have to make a big life adjustment if you’re going to be successful in all the things that you’re doing. A balance of school and work priorities was definitely a challenge.”
The COVID-19 pandemic brought a lot of uncertainty for many people worldwide, but for some, it reignited passions they hadn’t thought about in years. This was definitely the case for me, a 22-year-old who had some college credits knocked out but paused my education when I was unsure of my next steps.
As a “military brat,” I received a scholarship to attend a satellite campus of Barton County Community College at Fort Leavenworth, where I could complete many of my general education requirements. At that time, I fully believed I would follow in my dad and grandmother’s footsteps to become a nurse.
Since returning to college, I have found a love for mass media, including journalism, photography and graphic design, which can be applied across many areas of my life. My experience at Baker has been significantly different from that of many of my peers because I am at a different point in life, but it has been such an incredible experience to be on campus and learning things that excite me.
Taking time off to better understand myself and what I want for a future career was the best choice I could have made at 19. I am so thankful I decided to take about six years off from school to realign my core values to guide me to where I am today.
Baker fosters a supportive and inclusive environment for non-traditional students alongside traditional students, offering flexible online programs that cater to a wide variety of life experiences.
