NCES Report Nontraditional Students
The report from the United States Department of Education entitled “The Condition of Education: Non-traditional Undergraduates” (2002) provides a literature synopsis of educational trends regarding those students who are deemed “nontraditional.” Its purpose is to analyze the environment, climate, and student outcomes at private schools and enrollment and persistence of nontraditional undergraduates. According to the report, the undergraduate population in the United States is undergoing a considerable change. The “traditional” undergraduate, who is defined as one going to college immediately after graduating high school, either working part-time or not at all, and depending on parents for financial support due to, “is the exception rather than the rule” (2002, p.1). Instead, the number of “nontraditional students” is continuing to rise. Nontraditional students fall into one or more of the following categories: delay enrollment (do not enter postsecondary education in the same calendar year that he or she finished high school); attends part time for some part of the academic year; work full time while enrolled; Is financially independent as determined for eligibility for financial aid; has dependents other than a spouse (usually children); is a single parent (not married/married but separated with dependents); or do not have a high school diploma (completed high school with a high school completion certificate or did not finish high school). Presently, nearly 75% of students are characterized by one of these areas. They are considered “minimally nontraditional” with only one nontraditional characteristic, “moderately nontraditional” with two or three, and “highly nontraditional” with four or more (2002, p.19).
The report found a significant difference between the educational attainment levels of the traditional and nontraditional students. School does not appear to have first claim on the highly nontraditional individuals and many found that work limited their class and scheduling options. In fact, nontraditional students were much more likely to leave without earning any degree and were most at risk of dropping out in their first year. Further, nontraditional beginning students who left their first institution were more likely to completely leave college education and to transfer downward. Distance education may help this difference, since both moderately and highly nontraditional students are more likely to participate in this form of learning.
The report did cover the areas as specified in the introduction. However, it is what is not in the report that is questionable. First, there is no discussion of the results regarding the lower number of nontraditional students who follow through with their degree. The only suggestion in the report is the possibility of distance education increasing their persistence. Similarly, there are no follow-up questions regarding other research that is needed.
This report’s findings interested me, since I did not expect such a discrepancy in the number of traditional and nontraditional students. I looked to see if there was a newer research on this topic to see if this difference was addressed more thoroughly. I did not find specific study, but rather read a 2006 report by Mark Schneider, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) that clearly addressed the problems with NCES’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), which is the principal source of annual data at the level of individual postsecondary institutions regarding a number of variables that include characteristics of students, staff, finance, student aid, and graduation rates. Despite its size, IPEDS is limited and cannot answer many questions needed to be answered. Surprisingly, current data simply does not allow NCES “to estimate graduation rates for the vast majority of students” (Schneider, 2006), because the units of analysis are institutions of higher education that report data on an aggregate basis. IPEDS data are limited to full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking students in a particular year (cohort), by race/ethnicity and gender. Thus, no data are available on time to degree for individual students, family income, students who transfer and graduate from a subsequent institution, those enrolling on a part-time basis, and students who start – “stop out” – restart. Schneider asks, “How do you measure quality or design accountability systems for institutions that serve an appreciable number of non-traditional students with data that ignore these students?” A 1958 book by John Brubacher and Rudy Willis, reported on by the Teachers College Record, a journal of educational research, analysis, and commentary published since 1900 by the Teachers College at Columbia University (TC Record website), found that data on education as a whole by the government and educators/researchers “remains a relatively unexplored frontier. Into its regions, where lies a mass of unorganized data concerning higher education…” only a few researchers have ventured. It appears that this land still remains uncharted.
Schneider raises a very relevant question. With such a large number of nontraditional students, and especially the number of the students who drop out of college, it is necessary to determine how many go to another college or get a degree through distance learning. It is also important to know why these individuals are leaving and what can be done to help them continue their education. This report leaves the reader with many more questions than what was answered.
References
National Center for Educational Statistics (2002) Findings from the Condition of Education 2002: Nontraditional Undergraduates. Website retrieved June 16, http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2002012
Schneider, Mark (February 6, 2006) Comments delivered to the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Website retrieved June 16, 2007. http://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/commissioner/remarks2006/2_6_2006.asp
TC Record (1959). “Higher Education in Transition” Report on Higher Education in Transition by John Brubacher and Willis Rudy. Website retrieved June 16, 2007 http://www.tcrecord.org/About.asp
Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply
Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?
Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.
Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?
- Plagiarism free papers
- Timely delivery
- Any deadline
- Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
- Subject-relevant academic writer
- Adherence to paper instructions
- Ability to tackle bulk assignments
- Reasonable prices
- 24/7 Customer Support
- Get superb grades consistently
Online Academic Help With Different Subjects
Literature
Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.
Finance
Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.
Computer science
Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!
Psychology
While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.
Engineering
Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.
Nursing
In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.
Sociology
Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.
Business
We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!
Statistics
We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.
Law
Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.
What discipline/subjects do you deal in?
We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.
Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?
Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.
What if I don’t like the paper?
There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.
Reasons being:
- When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
- We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.
In the event that you don’t like your paper:
- The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
- We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
- Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.
Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?
Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.
What if the paper is plagiarized?
We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.
When will I get my paper?
You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.
Will anyone find out that I used your services?
We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.
How our Assignment Help Service Works
1. Place an order
You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.
2. Pay for the order
Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.
3. Track the progress
You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.
4. Download the paper
The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!
