Rethinking the “Nontraditional” Student from a Historical Perspective
The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 74, No. 6 (November/December 2003) Copyright © 2003 by The Ohio State University Since the mid-twentieth century, a host of political, economic and societal changes have contributed to the diversification of students in American institutions of higher education. Developments such as the Allied victory in World War II, the decrease in blue-collar jobs, and changing gender attitudes, have encouraged members of minority racial groups, young people with low social-class standing, and women to attend college (Bean & Metzner, 1985). Beginning in the 1960s, governmental and institutional financial-aid and affirmative-action policies explicitly promoted racial, class, and gender diversity for the first time. Not surprisingly, researchers have recently begun to assess the impact of these programs and the implications of an increasingly diverse student body (see Levine & Associates, 1989; Levine & Nidiffer, 1996; London, 1992; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1998; Westbrook & Sedlacek, 1991), using the term “nontraditional” to describe students who are older than typical college students, work because of financial necessity, belong to the first generation in their family to attend college, do not live on campus, attend part-time, or are members of minority racial groups. Bean and Metzner (1985) add, “Nontraditional students are distinguished by the lessened intensity and duration of their interaction Rethinking the “Nontraditional” Student from a Historical Perspective