Completing college can be big challenge for nontraditional students

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The first time Noelle Poe attended college, she was a 19-year-old juggling classes and a part-time job. Faced with the prospect of eight years of school and no financial help from her family, she quit.

Now Poe, a California native, is a full-time student at Yakima Valley Community College. She's raising two young children on her own and works 16 hours a week as YVCC's student director of programs.

She plans to earn her associate's degree in spring 2011 and transfer to Stanford University in California. She aspires to become a theater teacher. But even now, she sometimes wonders if she'll make it.

"I think it will get harder if I wait any longer," said Poe, 28. "The optimum time will never appear. I just have to do the work."

According to a December report released by the nonpartisan research group Public Agenda, those who are most at risk for quitting school are nontraditional students: older-than-average students who live on their own while balancing work, family and other commitments.

Although administrators at Yakima Valley Community College, Heritage University and Central Washington University don't track trends among their dropouts, they're fully aware of the added pressures that nontraditional students face.

That's why they're working harder than ever to provide innovative programming and services that help address these students' needs. If they persevere and graduate, these students are likely to see big payoffs.

According to 2000 U.S. Census data, people with a bachelor's degree earn an average of $2.1 million during their working lives, versus $1.2 million for high school graduates. More recent data is not available.

"We don't want them to fall through the cracks, so students are treated carefully and well," said Wilma Dulin, faculty director for the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at YVCC. "If we don't help them connect in the classroom, they don't connect."

According to 2009 data collected by the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, fewer than 40 percent of adults between ages 18 and 34 in YVCC's service area have an associate's degree or higher.

That's the worst such rate in the state, which the report attributes to the region's heavy dependence on agriculture-related employment. The low-wage seasonal work attracts many educationally disadvantaged people.

Most of YVCC's student body is classified as nontraditional. A snapshot of 2008 fall enrollment data shows more than 70 percent are age 20 or older, more than half are students of color, and about 39 percent have children or other dependents to support. Of these 6,384 students, about 45 percent are working full- or part-time jobs.

In light of these factors, YVCC has employed a variety of strategies to help nontraditional students stay in school. One such method is through building learning communities on campus, Dulin said.

"The majority of support that students need is from the relationships they build," she said. "If you connect students to other students through group projects, they learn to listen and work with others. Those kinds of things translate outside the classroom."

Examples of this are found in YVCC's nursing program, where students rent hotel rooms to study together before finals, Dulin said. Other ways students forge connections are through class projects and by attending workshops on everything from financial aid to career counseling.

A survey conducted by the school each fall gives further insight into student needs. In the past few years, YVCC has responded by offering more training with advisers. It helps match students with the academic and mental health counseling they need to succeed. Professors, too, do their part by being accessible via e-mail and by giving students alternative assignments if they can't attend class.

According to survey results, 50 percent of students report being helped with nonacademic responsibilities, compared with 44 percent three years ago. This fall's data is not yet available.

"When we look at those kinds of figures, we're doing an incredible job," Dulin said. "We are starting to close long-standing achievement gaps."

Heritage University in Toppenish prides itself in helping at-risk populations. Of its 1,400 students, more than half are people of color. Sixty percent work while attending school, and 85 percent are first-generation college students. All but 3 percent receive financial aid.

Admissions director Miguel Puente said the key to helping these students is through "intrusive counseling."

"Rather than sit back and rely on students to declare there is a developing issue, we take an active role," he said.

This type of counseling includes monitoring students' academic performance and checking on whether they attend class and meet financial aid deadlines. Heritage also offers numerous evening courses to work around students' work and family schedules.

"We need to create an environment where students feel comfortable. That's always a challenge," he said.

Antonio Torres is familiar with the struggles of being a nontraditional student. The 25-year-old is married with two young children and another on the way. He goes to school full time and works an average of 30 hours a week at two part-time jobs at Heritage -- one managing a fitness room through a work-study program, another as a mentor for YVCC students.

Although the rigors of school, work and family are sometimes overwhelming, Torres said the help he's received from Heritage has been invaluable. He's able to work during the day and take his classes at night, and he receives ample assistance in finding financial aid.

The staff also does its part to make him feel included, he said.

"It seems like most of the instructors really care about how you do. If you ask for help, they'll help," said Torres, a junior majoring in criminal justice. "Heritage has a lot of programs that students just need to educate themselves. They need to be aware. Heritage promotes them, but students don't take advantage of them."

At Central Washington University, 1,990 students -- 5 percent of the total enrollment -- have formally withdrawn from fall 2005 through fall 2009. That does not include students who stopped attending classes.

Among the reasons for withdrawing, the vast majority cited health, family and employment problems, findings that don't surprise Terry Terrell, director of registrar services.

"In the majority of cases, it will be stress-related," she said about why students quit school. "Students are trying to do more. They are trying to work to pay their tuition and still keep up with a full-time class load."

To help nontraditional students, Central has taken many of the same steps as YVCC. It conducts surveys, offers free mental and academic counseling, and schedules an array of online and distance-learning classes.

The university's Family Resource Center, which formed two years ago, also offers one-stop shopping for families seeking services on campus or in the community. The center presents a variety of workshops and kid-friendly events for students, faculty and staff, and it established a call-in radio program about relationships.

In addition to the Family Resource Center and free child care offered through the Early Childhood Learning Center, the university established the Kid Cat Zone in 2006. The program enables nontraditional students to drop off their children for a couple of hours to read, color and engage in other activities while the students attend a campus function, be it a lecture, film or sporting event.

Michelle Cyrus, assistant director for Central's nontraditional student programs and services, said creating an inclusive environment on campus is pivotal. But despite the university's efforts, overall student involvement remains low.

"We work really hard by giving them good, quality programs, but sometimes they don't fit into their schedules," she said. "They're so busy. They have so many other responsibilities. ... If they don't live close by, they don't come back."

As a former nontraditional student herself, Cyrus said she can understand the balancing act between work, school and family. But she also believes students must do their part by taking advantage of available services.

"We do everything but climb up on a mountain and send out a smoke signal," she said. "There is really no excuse for them not to know."

Central, Heritage and YVCC depend on grants to fund many of the services they offer to nontraditional students. As state-funded schools, YVCC and Central, especially, are feeling the pinch.

"We're in a serious financial crunch in our state right now," Cyrus said. "We have to create more Web-based classes for these folks. ... Central has been highly proactive in doing that. It's still not enough."

Poe, however, appreciates the help she receives at YVCC. The first time she went to college, she had no clue about what financial aid was available to her. Now, she knows where to go to have her questions answered.

"You kind of have to be very proactive with your education to be successful," she said. "It really pays off to talk to people."

Poe readily admits that going to school while raising a family is challenging. She can be at a theater rehearsal until 8 p.m. then be up with a sick child until 3 a.m. Her mom helps by looking after the kids during the day, and Poe receives further assistance from professors who let her e-mail them her assignments.

Although there are days when she's exhausted, looking at her children gives her the strength to continue. More than anything, she wants her children to be proud of her. She wants them to know that receiving an education is important.

"I really want my kids to see that I worked hard," she said. "A degree is something no one can take away from me."

* Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 509-577-7684 or esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com.

College dropout trends

The nonpartisan research group Public Agenda polled 600 people from ages 22 to 30 on higher education trends. It compared those who started college and didn't finish with those who earned a degree from a two-year or four-year institution.

Among the findings included in the report, titled "With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them":

* Nearly six in 10 dropouts got no help from their parents in paying tuition. Among those who earned degrees, more than six in 10 had tuition help from their families.

* More than half the dropouts had a household income below $35,000, while almost three-quarters of those with degrees had household incomes above $35,000.

* About seven in 10 dropouts had no scholarship or loan aid, compared with about four in 10 graduates who went without such aid.

* About four in 10 dropouts had parents with only a high school diploma, while seven in 10 graduates had parents who completed at least some college work.

* Difficulty in supporting themselves and going to college at the same time was the top reason students quit school.

* To keep students in school, those polled wanted financial aid for part-time students, more course offerings on weekends and evenings, and university-provided child care.

-- Source: www.publicagenda.org/theirwholelivesaheadofthem