In the past few years there has been an increase in the number of adult students in higher education courses, many of whom have returned to school after a break. Most of these students do not intend to continue their studies from the point where they stopped; rather, they want to prepare for specific tests in order to have direct access to higher…

Past research has indicated that different students learn differently. If we could identify into which group(s) students were more closely aligned, then we could help students learn more effectively. One such classification has been whether students were considered to be traditional or nontraditional, where traditional students were frequently…

There are many causes of poor academic performance among college students and many methods of assisting academic underachievers to improve their academic standing. A study was conducted to compare the rates of ongoing academic success of students who had been academically suspended and who reentered the university less than one year following…

A study compared the effects of retesting (with and without the benefit of short term instruction) on the scores of subjects in an upper-division university who had failed a writing test. Subjects who did not receive a passing score in their first attempt at the essay test were given the opportunity of attending a 4-hour workshop designed to…

The relationships among demands, coping resources, experienced stress, and well-being were studied in a cross-sectional survey of 210 reentry and 102 traditional women at the University of California, Irvine. The analysis was based on psychosocial stress theory and contextual analysis. Reentry women ranged in age from 26 to 66, with a mean age of…

There is little literature comparing personality differences between traditional (under age 25) and reentry women students (aged 25 and older). The purpose of the present study is to examine these differences. A background questionnaire and five additional scales: (1) the Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire (WOFO-3); (2) the…

Assesses the needs of returning women as compared to returning men and traditional students. The results show many demographic differences between returning women, returning men, traditional women, and traditional men. Campus programs and services should be tailored differently for the different groups. (Author)

Women who reenter college after years of work or family responsibilities were compared to women with similar backgrounds who do not reenter school on measures of fear of success and achievement anxiety. A questionnaire designed to determine reentry status, age, socioeconomic standing, facilitating and debilitating anxiety, and fear of success was…

Trends and issues concerning college attendance by adult students are reviewed. Trends seem to suggest that the rising educational attainment of the general population will result in increased demand for learning activities by older students. Data are provided on: estimated college enrollments for 1990 and projected population and enrollments in…

A basic-skills testing remediation model for older, reentry college juniors was studied longitudinally and cross-validated against previous findings. Attention was directed to the rates of academic success and attrition for students entering an upper-division university in 1981 as juniors and seniors and majoring in business administration. The…

A study examined the academic skills, study habits, and attitudes of returning adult students and compared them to those of younger, traditional-aged students at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. To gather data for the study, researchers asked 432 students aged 25 and older and 500 traditional-aged students to complete the following four…

The question of whether internal versus external locus of control for generalized expectancies of reinforcement is an important variable in working with college reentry students was examined in a descriptive study. Subjects were 24 women (9 Caucasians, 7 African Americans, and 8 Hispanic Americans aged 19 to 24 years) enrolled in a proprietary…

Trends in projects to improve women's education submitted to and supported by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (Fund) from 1976-78 are analyzed, and comparisons with experiences by the Fund from 1973-75 are made. The majority of Fund grants remain geared to serving adult women students, enhancing the career aspirations of…