A nontraditional student is a term originating in North America, that refers to a category of students at colleges and universities. The term usually involves age and social characteristics. Nontraditional students are contrasted with traditional students.
An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word major is also sometimes used administratively to refer to the academic discipline pursued by a graduate student or postgraduate student in a master's or doctoral program.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. It is managed by the American Council on Education.
An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activities is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Such activities are generally voluntary (as opposed to mandatory), social, philanthropic, and often involve others of the same age. Students and staff direct these activities under faculty sponsorship, although student-led initiatives, such as independent newspapers, are very common. However, sometimes the school principals and teachers also bring in these activities in the school among the students.
A learning community is a group of people who share common academic goals and attitudes and meet semi-regularly to collaborate on classwork. Such communities have become the template for a cohort-based, interdisciplinary approach to higher education. This may be based on an advanced kind of educational or 'pedagogical' design.
The National Survey of Student Engagement is a survey mechanism used to measure the level of student participation at universities and colleges in Canada and the United States as it relates to learning and engagement. The results of the survey help administrators and professors to assess their students' student engagement. The survey targets first-year and senior students on campuses. NSSE developed ten student Engagement Indicators (EIs) that are categorized in four general themes: academic challenge, learning with peers, experiences with faculty, and campus environment. Since 2000, there have been over 1,600 colleges and universities that have opted to participate in the survey. Additionally, approximately 5 million students within those institutions have completed the engagement survey. Overall, NSSE assesses effective teaching practices and student engagement in educationally purposeful activities. The survey is administered and assessed by Indiana University School of Education Center for Postsecondary Research.
A part-time student is a non-traditional student who pursues higher education, typically after reaching adulthood, while living off-campus, and possessing responsibilities related to family and/or employment. Part-time student status is based on taking fewer course credits in a semester than full-time students. Part-time students may choose to pursue part-time studies for a variety of different reasons. A benefit of pursuing higher education as a part-time student is the opportunity to be able to balance learning with work, family and other personal commitments. Not every program will have the option for part-time students to enroll. The selection of programs that are available in a part-time format will vary depending on the institution.
The College of General Studies (CGS) is one of the 17 schools within the University of Pittsburgh located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The College of General Studies offers programs of special interest to adults and non-traditional students, including baccalaureate degrees (BA/BS) and standalone certificates. The administration of the College of General Studies is overseen by the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.
Social gravity is a term relating social structure and socioeconomics to the theory of Newtonian gravity.
White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son is a book by activist and writer Tim Wise. It is a personal account examining white privilege and his conception of racism in American society through his experiences with his family and in his community. The title is based on the book Black Like Me written by John Howard Griffin.
The Center for Community College Student Engagement is a research and service project of the Program in Higher Education Leadership in The University of Texas at Austin (UT) College of Education. The Center was founded in 2001 under the name Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). Major grants from the Houston Endowment Inc., the Lumina Foundation for Education, the MetLife Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts have supported the Center's work.
An adult learner or, more commonly, a mature student, is a person who is older and is involved in forms of learning. Adult learners fall in a specific criterion of being experienced, and do not always have a high school diploma. Many of the adult learners go back to school to finish a degree, or earn a new one.
First-generation college students in the United States are college students whose parents did not complete a baccalaureate degree. Although research has revealed that completion of a baccalaureate degree is significant in terms of upward socioeconomic mobility in the United States, a considerable body of research indicates that these students face significant systemic barriers to postsecondary education access, academic success once enrolled, and degree completion. Many of these obstacles result from systemic racial, cultural, social, and economic inequities.
Camille Z. Charles is an American sociologist. She serves as Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, Africana Studies & Education and Director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She served as the first chair of Penn's Africana Studies Department, founded in 2012.
Zelda Gamson is an American sociologist, writer and activist. Her scholarly work has primarily focused on the sociology of higher education, in particular innovation and change.
Higher education in the United States is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. Higher education, also referred to as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education occurs most commonly at one of the 3,899 Title IV degree-granting institutions in the country. These may be public universities, private universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, or for-profit colleges. Learning environments vary greatly depending on not only the type of institution, but also the different goals implemented by the relevant county and state.
Sharon L. Fries-Britt is a professor of higher education at the University of Maryland, College Park.
John R. Thelin is an American scholar of higher education in the United States. He is University Research Professor at the University of Kentucky.
Joseph B. Berger is a social scientist, educationist, and academic. He is a professor of education, and Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) is a study conducted every four years by the National Center for Education Statistics, a division of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education. This study captures data regarding how students pay for postsecondary education, with special attention to how families fund higher education. The NPSAS, which has been conducted periodically since 1987, has a complex design, utilizing sampling and weighting to achieve a sample that represents college students nationwide.
