Nontraditional students--students who are often older, not coming directly from high school, or have job and family responsibilities, etc.--now constitute the majority of college students. These students have significantly different needs from those of traditional students, but most institutions are still not built to support them. At a time when higher education is facing significant challenges--rising tuition, stagnant enrollment, precarious funding, and a growing cynicism about its worth--it is crucial that more attention be paid to nontraditional students. Board members must recognize who these students are and how to attract, enroll, and retain them if they hope to help their institutions survive and thrive. This brief uses the term "nontraditional student," but it is important to note that, as this population has grown, advocacy organizations, researchers, and institutions have started to refer to this group with a variety of different terms, such as "today's students," "post-traditional students," or "adult students." This reflects the start of a necessary culture change, which recognizes that the "nontraditional" student is, in fact, now the norm rather than the exception.