--- title: Why the Nontraditional Student will disrupt Higher Education description: The higher education industry is at an inflection point. Over the next decade, the nontraditional student will drive growth and innovation. image: https://blog.mutarainc.com/hubfs/Canva%20-%20Mature%20Students%20Outdoors%20300x175.jpg --- [![www.mutarainc.com](https://blog.mutarainc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Mutara_H_Web.png?width=864&height=325&name=Mutara_H_Web.png "www.mutarainc.com")](http://mutarainc.com) Open main menu Close main menu [Higher Education](https://blog.mutarainc.com/tag/higher-education) [Best practices](https://blog.mutarainc.com/tag/best-practices) [Trends](https://blog.mutarainc.com/tag/trends) [Institutional value](https://blog.mutarainc.com/tag/institutional-value) [Nontraditional](https://blog.mutarainc.com/tag/nontraditional) # Why the Nontraditional Student will disrupt Higher Education [Larry Grey](https://blog.mutarainc.com/author/larry-grey) [Share this blog post on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=I+found+this+interesting+blog+post&url=https://blog.mutarainc.com/why-the-nontraditional-student-will-disrupt-higher-education) [Share this blog post on LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.mutarainc.com/why-the-nontraditional-student-will-disrupt-higher-education) It’s a new year and new decade.  What are the trends and outlook in Higher Education?  Are today’s institutions prepared? In short, the industry is at an inflection point and most institutions are at risk of being left behind: > The outlook for enrollment growth in higher education among traditional 18-22 year-olds in the next decade is dire – [Inside Higher Education](https://www.insidehighered.com/sponsored/2019-higher-education-crossroads) > > --- > > Nearly 75 percent of American undergraduate students are “nontraditional” – [USA Today](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/10/03/adult-older-nontraditional-college-students-louisiana/1504180002/) The increasing costs of college, recognition that the recession disproportionately affected less-educated people, and the need to keep up with the pace of technological change is changing this established demographic. ## The Traditional Student versus the Nontraditional Student The traditional student is often defined as an 18-22 year old domestic high school graduate pursuing a 2 or 4 year degree full time.  Historically, this demographic represented the vast majority of U.S. college students and admissions processes were (and still are) optimized to compete for this pool of candidates. Therefore, the nontraditional student is somebody who: - may be 23 or older - might be from a foreign country - might not be a high school graduate - might not be pursuing a standard 2 or 4 year degree - might be pursuing education goals part time ## Challenges faced by the status quo Nontraditional students represents a new market with different backgrounds and goals.  Therefore, institutions need new techniques and offerings to attract and service nontraditional students.  > Most institutions \[still\] find it’s easier to recruit a student out of high school – [Inside Higher Ed](https://www.insidehighered.com/sponsored/2019-higher-education-crossroads) --- > The market for nontraditional students is underserved – [Inside Higher Ed](https://www.insidehighered.com/sponsored/2019-higher-education-crossroads) --- > As the current job market requires a shift toward lifetime learning, 74 million people are prospective students for higher learning compared to 3.6 million graduating high school seniors. – [Inside Higher Ed](https://www.insidehighered.com/sponsored/2019-higher-education-crossroads) Over the past 6 months, we've been working with institutions who are re-organizing their programs, infrastructure, and processes to allow them to take advantage of this new opportunity.  Unfortunately, accomplishing this isn't easy and requires focus and commitment across all parts of the organization. Whether you're a community college, a 4-year university, or a for-profit college;  it's critical that you make plans today or risk being left behind. [Get in touch](https://blog.mutarainc.com/why-the-nontraditional-student-will-disrupt-higher-education#schudele-demo) ## Related Articles [![An impage showing the executive order issued by Ron Desantis on February 24, 2025](https://blog.mutarainc.com/hubfs/FL%20Doge%20Executive%20Order.png)](https://blog.mutarainc.com/florida-doge-task-force-how-this-impacts-higher-education) [Higher Education](https://blog.mutarainc.com/tag/higher-education) [In the news](https://blog.mutarainc.com/tag/in-the-news) ### [FL DOGE task force and its impact to higher education](https://blog.mutarainc.com/florida-doge-task-force-how-this-impacts-higher-education) On February 24, 2025, Florida Governor, Ron Desantis, issued an executive order establishing a Florida version of the DOGE task force. As this is the first DOGE... 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