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Article Type

Professional Proficiency

Article Abstract

Related Issue:

The number of nontraditional students in U.S. higher education is growing significantly, especially at for-profit postsecondary institutions given their shorter programs and career training. Yet these students have vastly different needs than their traditional-aged counterparts. A mixed-methods study of practical nursing students (n=36) enrolled in an eighteen-month face-to-face proprietary college in the northeastern United States (known in this study as Stethoscope School of Health) revealed a plethora of items and services that students identified as aids to their persistence and success. Childcare services, transitional courses both into and out of the program, transportation assistance, and the library being open late at night and on weekends were the top recommendations of study participants. This article explains the background and methodology of the study and focuses on what nontraditional students themselves state they need to persist and succeed at a proprietary postsecondary school.

Author(s)

macdonald--lg

Kris MacDonald, Ed.D., earned her B.A. in Communications/Journalism from Shippensburg University in 2005, her MSed in Secondary Education from the University of Scranton in 2011, and her Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Management in High Education from Drexel University in 2017. She has PA Teaching Certification in English for grades 7–12 plus CITI and QM certifications. Since 2011, she has worked in secondary and higher education with a variety of learners both face-to-face and online, teaching synchronous and asynchronously. While completing her doctorate, she created curriculum for PERC to calibrate instructional design for EL students in Philadelphia’s charter schools. During her three years at Drexel University, she presented her research through PASA in 2015 and 2017; and the Drexel University Doctoral Colloquium, CARE Conference, and INTED Conference in 2017; she has additionally worked as the PASA 2017 Conference Assistance, 2017 MARAAS annual conference graphic designer and designed Padlets and programs for two GTC workshops in 2017. She was also the 2017 PASA Research Fellows recipient. Her dissertation is titled “Factors Positively Influencing Persistence and Graduation for Nontraditional Students Enrolled at a For-Profit Postsecondary Institution.” She currently works as the Director for the Center for Teaching Innovation and Excellence at SUNY Corning Community College in New York.

References

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