Non-Traditional Students are in the Majority

In a 1996 study, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) included anyone who satisfies at least one of the following as a non-traditional student:

• Delays enrollment (does not enter postsecondary education in the same calendar year that he or she finished high school);
• Attends part time for at least part of the academic year;
• Works full time (35 hours or more per week) while enrolled;
• Is considered financially independent for purposes of determining eligibility for financial aid;
• Has dependents other than a spouse (usually children, but sometimes others);
• Is a single parent (either not married or married but separated and has dependents);
• Does not have a high school diploma (completed high school with a GED or other high school completion certificate or did not finish high school).

By this standard, the NCES determined that 73% of all undergraduates in 1999-2000 could be considered non-traditional, therefore comprising the vast majority of total undergraduate students in the United States, and representing the newly "typical" undergraduate.