The purpose of study was to examine the student support services for non-traditional adult students. The study provided insight into the lived experiences of these students while enrolled at Union Institute & University's (UI&U) bachelor's degree program. The study also examined the effectiveness of the Pay It Forward Mentoring (PIFM) program. This study was guided by the researcher's academic and professional experiences as an adult student and as Director of Admissions at UI&U. The findings of this case study addressed the study's central problem statement: non-traditional colleges and universities fail to provide adequate support to adult students. PIFM is an intervention to help students who demonstrate the need for additional support. The researcher piloted PIFM to address the lack of student support in non-traditional institutions. The researcher, along with program advisors, selected students whom they felt could benefit from additional support. The researcher paired 10 students with mentors from their field of study. The researcher was able to solicit professionals from the fields of education, criminal justice, social work, and business to serve as mentors to the participants. The researcher employed a qualitative case study to examine the program's effectiveness. This was done through interviews of mentors, proteges, and program advisors. The researcher tracked the proteges' academic progress throughout the 16-week period. The results of the study indicate that adult students would be more successful if provided additional support in the form of mentoring synthesized with transformative learning and retention theories. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]