What is a Non-Traditional Student?

Every school has their own definition of what a "non-traditional" student is, but generally a non-traditional student is:

• An older student, usually over the age of 24 or 25.
• A student who previously has attended college and is returning to college after a few year's break.
• A student who graduated high school and went straight into the work force, and is now attending college for the first time.

Most definitely, the adult/re-entry, non-traditional student is not alone in our colleges and universities.

OK, I'm a Non-Traditional Student. Now what?

1. Find a School, Determine Your Costs

If you have NOT already chosen a school to attend, BEFORE you start looking for scholarships, grants, loans, and other financial aid, you need to find a school that offers the degree program you want, and find out how much it is going to cost!

• It is VERY important to choose an ACCREDITED college or university. Ask your school's admission office if they are accredited. Most Scholarships, State and Federal Aid will not allow you to use their awards at schools that are not already accredited.
• It is a usually a good idea to look primarily at Public colleges and universities, at least at first. They usually - not always, but usually - have lower costs and better resources for adult students than the private or technical colleges.
• Consider attending a community college. I am a huge fan of community colleges, I admit I'm biased!! But I've attended six different community colleges over the years and I've never regretted the choice!
• Community colleges often have good to outstanding resources for nontrads
• Community colleges often have partnership programs with local employers.
• You can't beat the low-cost-to-high-value ratio!
• Consider attending Part-Time, especially for your first semester back after several years out of school.
• Attending Part-time is cheaper than attending full-time, however your eligibility for scholarships will be next-to-nothing and your eligibility for State and Federal aid is greatly reduced.
• But attending part-time will give you a VERY good opportunity to determine if returning to school is what you really want to do before you have committed a large amount of your time and money to it!
• #1 Cause of Failure when returning to school after a few years break: Taking On Too Much! Many people decide to return to school and go back full-time, just to find themselves overwhelmed with the demands of job, family, and full-time school.
• College has changed a LOT since you were last in school. And if you never went to college right after high school, you are going to be in for well, quite a shock! From my own personal experience, I strongly suggest that if you have been out of school for more than five years, that you take ONLY one or two classes your first semester. Don't set yourself up for potential failure from overloading yourself with work, family and school: Take it slow and easy, and give yourself time to re-learn how to study and what it is like to be in a classroom. It CAN be quite a "culture shock!"

The FAFSA form - Free Application for Federal Student Aid - is a form that almost all schools require you fill out. This form can be filled out online, and is also available for free at all accredited school's financial aid office.

Your financial aid office should be able to help you fill out the form if you find it confusing. Do NOT pay to have someone fill it out and/or file it! Especially NEVER pay a fee to send the form to the government - it is FREE to get this form and file it!

Why should I fill out the FAFSA?

• The majority of aid for all students comes through the Federal government. This aid is in the form of loans, grants, work-study, etc. Aid available through the Government is NOT restricted by your age!
• Even if the Federal government determines you are not eligible for aid, your school most likely will require that you have filed the FAFSA form. Most schools use the information provided on the FAFSA to determine what aid they will offer you from their own funds.
• Even if you "think" you earn "too much money" you should file the FAFSA. Financial aid is determined using a rather complicated formula that takes into accounting things such as how many children you have, savings, and other assets. Fill out the FAFSA and let the Financial Aid office determine if you are eligible - don't assume you are NOT eligible!
• The FAFSA form is ESPECIALLY important to fill out if you are a non-traditional student, since more of your aid, if any, is going to come from the Government than from private scholarship sources.
• If you have a prior defaulted student loan, you are out of luck. You are NOT eligible for ANY forms of Federal or State aid, and most schools will not provide you with funding from their own scholarship funds. But you should STILL file a FAFSA as your financial aid office may require it in order to get them to help you with other needs - such as helping you with scholarship applications or dealing with your student loan lender. But if you have a defaulted student loan, the best thing you can do may be to consider delaying going back to school for another year or so and PAY OFF that defaulted loan, or get it back into "repayment" status (instead of "defaulted" status).

• Ask your City, County or State government about "retraining" programs, especially if you have recently been laid-off or "downsized" out of your job. Most retraining programs are designed to be used only to update your skills or for certificate or two year programs, but they are usually flexible, and sometimes can be used to achieve a Bachelor's degree.
• Are you over 60 years of age? Ask about free tuition! Seriously! Most community colleges and many State colleges and universities offer FREE tuition to residents who are senior citizens! You will still have to pay for related fees and books, but free tuition is a huge benefit!

• Many employers offer "Tuition Reimbursement" programs, where you will be refunded a portion of the costs of your tuition. Most programs base the amount they refund you upon your grades - the better the grade, the more they refund you. Most programs will only pay for classes that directly relate to your job or your employer's area of business, but still a very valuable resource!
• Some employers offer scholarships for their employees, ask your Human Resources department!
• Does your employer offer you a "Cafeteria" plan of benefits? Negotiate one benefit for another! Perhaps trade your sick days for tuition reimbursement?
• Even if your employer does not offer any educational benefits, ASK them for help. Be sure to emphasis how your value to the company will be increased by your improving your skills and education! Your employer may never have thought about educational benefits - ask, and get them thinking about it!

• The Hope Scholarship is a tax credit worth up to $1,500. The Credit is based upon how much you spend on education and how much you earn - the more you earn, the less you get. You can only use the Hope Scholarship credit for two years.
• Read More about the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit from the IRS website.
• The Lifetime Learning Tax Credit is worth up to $2,000, is also adjusted based upon your income, and cannot be claimed in the same year that the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit is used. Unlike the Hope Scholarship Credit, there is no limit to the number of years in which a Lifetime Learning Credit may be claimed for each student. Thus, for example, an individual who enrolls in one college-level class every year would be able to claim the Lifetime Learning Credit for an unlimited number of years, provided the individual meets the income limits and is taking the classes at institutions that meet the eligibility requirements.
• Read More about the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit from the IRS website.

Be aware that you can now claim part of the interest you pay on your student loans on your tax returns!!

6. Consider Home Equity Loans

• Interest paid on home equity loans might be tax deductible!
• I, personally, would NOT use a home equity loan to fund my education, because the risk of losing my home is too high for my comfort level (of course, I'm a total wimp when it comes to financial risks!), however, many students HAVE used the equity in their homes quite successfully - especially at today's low interest rates! This is something to look into carefully, and weigh all the pros and cons for yourself.

Some banks and most credit unions will allow you to take out a loan against existing savings accounts, bonds, CDs, IRAs, money-market accounts, etc. The major benefit to using your existing savings as SECURITY for a loan are:

• Very low overall interest rate. For example, you have $3,000 in a Money-Market CD Account paying 5% interest. Your Credit Union charges "3% above current interest rate" for a loan secured by your CD. This means that you will pay a total of 8% interest on the loan (5% + 3% = 8%). But your CD is still EARNING INTEREST while you are paying off the loan! While thanks to the complexities of compounding interest it can be hard to figure out your exact overall rate... you will be actually paying slightly above 3% interest on the loan despite the 8% rate.
• Your savings are still there when you pay off the loan! With Interest! You don't kill your savings!
• Very Low risk for the bank, therefore generally VERY easy to have loan approved!
• This could be a particularly good idea to look into if your only assets are retirement savings or retirement IRAs. By using the retirement account (such as an IRA) as security, you do NOT deplete your retirement savings that you have worked so hard for, and you won't have to worry about paying early withdrawal penalties!
• The One Big Negative: You have to make payments while in school. And of course, you have to have some sort of assets (savings, CD, etc.) to use as security!

Obviously, I am a BIG fan of scholarships - I've spent the last three years of my life devoted to scholarships! But I am also a realist regarding scholarships. Scholarships are highly competitive, and difficult to win even if you are the best of students. The difficulty is increased when you are an older student - there is a certain belief that the older student should be able, by now, to take care of their own educational expenses. While this belief is quite unrealistic, it does exist.

The Bad News:

• Most scholarships are for FULL-time students attending 4 year colleges, not part-time students attending 2 year colleges, which is a large portion of non-traditional students.
• Unfortunately, many - not all, but many - scholarship judging committees have a "bias" towards the traditional high-school senior. They simply do not know HOW to judge a lifetime of experience compared to a really good SAT score!
• As is true regardless of your age - 18 or 80 - scholarships rarely, if ever, cover 100% of your costs.

• As an older student, you have one VERY distinct advantage: You have real-life, real-world experiences to draw upon, to find strength from, to write essays about, and to share with other students. You have earned your confidence and determination the "hard way": through your life's experiences. Do not hesitate to draw upon your life experiences when applying for scholarships - or college or jobs!
• Most scholarship applications don't have a restriction against older students! Of course, they don't make this obvious on the application form either! If the application does NOT say anything about age requirements - go for it! Just because the application doesn't specifically say they accept non-traditional students doesn't mean you can't apply!
• Many scholarship organizations are recognizing that more than 30% of students are now older students, and are starting to create scholarships specifically for non-traditional students.
• As an older student, you have one VERY distinct advantage: You have real-life, real-world experiences to draw upon, to find strength from, to write essays about, and to share with other students. Do not hesitate to draw upon your life experiences when applying for scholarships - or college or jobs!
• Many scholarships consider work experience - look for those!
• Same for community service and Essay-based scholarships - they rarely have any age restrictions, and often welcome the older applicant!
• If you have been out of school for more than a couple of years, you should be able to increase your odds of winning a scholarship if you wait until AFTER you have already completed a semester or two before you apply. This way you have recent academic achievement information to supply on your applications, to show how "worthy" a student you are - despite your age!

Cere in Tacoma, Washington shares her experience:

"One thing I am concerned with is that some students might get the message that if you don't have a really high grade point average don't bother. I am a single parent going to school full time and can only manage to hold a 3.45gpa. I have been lucky so far though and have received $3,500 so far in scholarships, so I know that not having a perfect grade point won't hold you back from winning all the time."

• Search My Database of Scholarships - for free!
• Search All The Other databases of scholarships - all free!
• Read my Tips on Finding Scholarships

As an adult student, you most likely have many ties to your community. You have built relationships with your church, your neighbors, the schools your kids attend (if you have kids!), your family and friends, your social or professional organizations, and the many other relationships you have.

By virtue of having established yourself in your community, you very well may have MANY more resources available to you that you have not thought of before!

It's time to "take advantage" of the time you have spent establishing yourself in your community!

• Day care is a BIG issue for many non-traditional students. Quite a few schools now offer on-site day care at very good rates, or have negotiated special prices at local day-care centers. Check with your school's administration office to find out if they have any. Community colleges in particular tend to have a lot of students who are in the same position as you and therefore, they also tend to have more resources available to the single parents. Try to make friends with some of your classmates and see if you can trade baby-sitting with them!
• Are you active in your church? If so, see if your Church can help you. Do they have a day care center? Can you "team up" with another parishioner to share baby-sitting duties? Does your church offer scholarships? It never ceases to amaze me how much help churches of ALL faiths offer to their members. One student - a single-parent - talked with her Paster, he made an announcement at the end of the service asking if anyone could help her by watching her kids. Fourteen people volunteered. A minor miracle if I dare say so!
• Don't be afraid to try and negotiate with your current day care provider - see if they might be willing to reduce your price a bit, say, in exchange for you posting flyers about them on campus, or telling your fellow single parent friends about them, or maybe even in exchange for you working for them one afternoon a week or something. Talk with your neighbors, see if you can help each other out with child care needs.
• Check with all the social and professional groups you may be a member of. Also, be sure to check with any Labor Unions you may be a member of. Chamber of Commerce member? Jay-Cees? Association of Professional Wrestlers? MANY professional and social organizations offer scholarships to their members. Explore this area thoroughly!
• Talk with your neighbors, your families, your friends, they may be more willing to help you than you realize. Granted, they may not be able to help you financially - but they very well may be able to help you with running errands, shopping, cooking, child care, or even help you study! This help can be far more valuable than money.

"My next-door neighbor, Helen, never graduated high school. When I told her I wanted to go back to college she said I was nuts. She knew I had flunked out of college after a year when I was 18. In my mind, I had failed already, so I could not do any worse than I already had. It was worth the risk. She thought that we were too old to learn, that it was already too late for us. We made a promise to each other: I would help her get her GED, and she would help me survive my first semester.

GED classes were Saturday afternoon and Wednesday night, my classes were Saturday afternoon, Tuesday and Thursday nights. Helen came up with a plan: Under threat of having to do their own laundry, she told our husbands that they would have to watch the kids every Saturday and cook dinner. ALL of our kids, seven between us. On the nights that I was in class, she would watch all the kids and cook dinner for both families. It takes only a bit more food and time to cook for 11 people than it does for 5 or 6. On the nights she was in class, I did the same thing: Watch all of our kids and cook dinner for both families. We always ate dinner at the house of whoever cooked, and quite often, the kids ended up spending the night, exhausted. Since Helen only had classes two days a week I watched her kids on Sunday afternoon so she could study in peace.

November 22, 1993: Helen got her GED, with the top scores in her class. A month later I finished my first semester with two A's and one B. In January, 1994, barely two months after getting her GED at the age of 41, Helen entered college for the first time. In three weeks we are both graduating. Together. (May 1st, 1999)"

• Assume the answer is "no" before you ask the question.
• Give Up Without Trying.
• Fail to pay attention to important deadlines, especially "add/drop" deadlines and Financial Aid deadlines.
• Deplete your "emergency" savings or your "retirement" savings.
• Pay for "guaranteed" scholarship searches or to have your FAFSA filled out.
• Risk losing your home with multiple equity loans (3rd or 4th mortgages!)
• Overload yourself with student loans for the first year. Better to take a few classes FIRST, to see if you really are ready for this, before you become indebted to the point you are choking!
• Give Up during the first day of classes! Wait another week or so!

The FAFSA Form Online - Free Application for Federal Student Aid form available online.

Read More about the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit from the IRS website.

Read More about the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit from the IRS website.

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Browse My Database for scholarships that are specifically for non-traditional students. Click on "Non-Traditional" - be sure to read the requirements carefully!

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