Ready or not, here we come: An examination of assistance that rural community colleges may provide to nontraditional students.

摘要

Changes in employment and life transitions brought unprecedented numbers of nontraditional students into higher education. In order to meet the ever-growing needs of this particular population, educators must not only understand barriers brought to the learning environment, but also concepts of Andragogy, the teaching of adults. In addition, adult educators of the 21st century are responsible for preparing new policies and programs to assist in this learning endeavor.; Data from a 2004 case study conducted at a southern rural community college were presented which addressed such issues. Analysis of this study was accompanied by an overview of prior research on barriers nontraditional students faced upon entering higher education and assistance that had been identified as beneficial.; In recent years, Mississippi has experienced the close of dozens of factories, mostly in the textiles and apparel industry, throughout the state and experienced the loss of approximately 41,000 jobs due to their relocation to Mexico, most of which was in the textiles and apparel industry (Murray, 2003). This out-migration of jobs caused changes in our economy and some low-skill, low-wage jobs were vanishing. Due to the loss of these jobs, employees were turning to workforce training, provided in part by community colleges, which were experiencing a growth in the number of nontraditional students.