Editing Nontraditional student (section)

{{short description|Category of students at colleges and universities}}{{Multiple issues|{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=May 2018}}
{{Missing information|article|graduate students.|date=February 2024}}}}

'''Nontraditional student''' is a term that refers to a category of students at [[Higher education|colleges and universities]]. The term originated in North America and usually involves age and social characteristics. Nontraditional students are contrasted with [[traditional student]]s.<ref name="nces.ed.gov">[https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002012.pdf National Center for Education Statistics. "Nontraditional Undergraduates", Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. (p. 2) Accessed 30 Sept 2013].</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Pascarella|first1=Ernest T.|last2=Terenzini|first2=Patrick T|title=Studying College Students in the 21st Century: Meeting New Challenges|journal=The Review of Higher Education|date=Winter 1998|volume=21|issue=2|page=151|doi=10.1353/rhe.1998.a30045 |s2cid=142073525 }}</ref>

The [[United States Department of Education]] estimated that 73% of all undergraduates in the United States attending accredited institutions in 1999–2000 had one or more nontraditional characteristics.<ref name="nces" /> This remained consistent in the following years: 72% in 2003–2004, 72% for 2007–2008, and 74% for 2011–2012.<ref name="Radford, A. W. 2015">Radford, A. W., Cominole, M., & Skomsvold, P. (2015). Demographic and enrollment characteristics of nontraditional undergraduates: 2011-12.</ref>