Motivation plays a crucial role in adult learners' decisions to enroll in educational programs. This study aimed to evaluate the motivations for adult learners who enrolled at adult high schools in Riyadh as well as the potential gender and age differences for their motivations. The Education Participation Scale (EPS) A-Form was administered to…

Objective: Policymakers in many states are endeavoring to increase graduation rates among older community college students. However, we know little about how the factors that influence college completion among older students differ from their younger peers. We aim to identify features of institutional contexts in which adult community college…

To sustain the higher education industry and address U.S. economic downturns, researchers must prioritize research on undergraduates aged 24 or above -- contemporary students. This empirical study finds contemporary students have lower chances of attaining degrees--"any degrees"--than their younger peers. Using nationally representative…

It is generally agreed upon that most individuals who acquire a college degree do so in their early 20s. Despite this consensus, we show that in the US from the 1930 birth cohort onwards a large fraction -- around 20% -- of college graduates obtained their degree after age 30. We explore the implications of this phenomenon. First, we show that…

The purpose of this correlational quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between age and media literacy for postsecondary civics students in the northeastern United States. This study was significant by the methodological, theoretical, and practical implications it presents for educational approaches in teaching media literacy to…

Mid-career men and women professionals describe their pervasive sense of 'lateness' retraining in law. Against industry patterns of lawyers wishing to leave the profession, these individuals had chosen to assert or reassert a desire to become lawyers partway through existing careers. What cultural narratives mediate the process of making this…

Problem-solving skills in a digital environment are a prerequisite to a better future for all citizens in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. To investigate the relationship between age, gender, computer use, and adult learners' problem-solving skills in a digital environment, this study analyzed the 4,540 Korean participants' problem-solving…

Internships are considered "high-impact practices" offering students transformative opportunities to develop new skills and professional identities while immersed in workplace culture. They have also been pinpointed as key to improving student success and employment within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.…

Research points to an age disparity in college completion, with adult community college students (ages 25 years and older) being less likely to complete postsecondary credentials than their younger peers. However, research also demonstrates that adult community college students are more likely to report educational goals that do not culminate in a…

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on university students across the world. In a short period of time from 2020 to 2022, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) had to pivot their modes of delivery to ensure they could meet the needs of their students. The move to digital platforms has been challenging for students from all ages, but…

Students 25 years of age and older comprise one-third of the population in public two-year institutions, and these students face significant disadvantages in first-year retention and eventual graduation. Successfully passing college math and college English are important steps for adult students in building momentum toward a degree. Classroom…

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between learned helplessness and academic baseline levels among adult students who dropped out of high school and have returned to a high school equivalency program to prepare to take the GED examination. The study controlled for the variables of the age of…

This study examines how the self-reported cheating behaviors of students from a single large institution serving primarily adult students in online courses differ from those previously reported in large-scale studies of academic integrity among traditional-age college students. Specifically, the research presented here demonstrates that students…

Undergraduate college-going is now undertaken well into adulthood, but knowledge about what leads individuals to enroll derives nearly entirely from the study of the "traditionally-aged". I examine whether and how predictors of enrollment vary as individuals progress through the life-course using nationally representative data from the…

This study sought to respond to the increased number of mature students in social work education and the understudied topic of their experiences. The research deployed semi- structured interviews and thematic analysis to explore the benefits, challenges, and needs of mature students (N = 19) over the age of 30 in a Canadian Bachelor of Social Work…