Student Enrollment Types

Callie RaffertyUNV-547 Student DevelopmentDanielle Rinnier14 December, 2022

Student Enrollment Types

In the higher education context, demographic diversity refers to the differences in individual identity among students at a higher education insitution, such as race, gender, sexuality, disability, ethnicity, and age (Mansoor et al., 2020). On top of these more general identities within students, there are more student-specific demographics that Student Affairs departments are responsible for supporting, such as adult, international, online, ground, first-year students, first-generation, commuter, military, and dual enrollment students. These different demographics have certain characteristics and needs that must be addressed.

DemographicDiversity

• Offering evening academic and career advisors
• Evening tutoring programs
• Hosting free childcare on-campus
• Incentives for attending advisment/mentoring sessions with grocery and gas giftcards
• Adult-friendly internship placements

• Flexible class meeting times (night classes)
• Childcare
• Job and internship placement assistance
• Transportation assistance
• Transfer-friendly degree programs
• Financial aid/tuition assistance

• Taking classes part-time

• Adult students (25+)
• Financially independent
• More likely to have children or be a single parent (Vale & Roat, 2015)

• Commutes to campus
• Could have transfer credits

• Completed GED or alternative to high school diploma (Vale & Roat, 2015)

Characteristics

How to Address Needs

Needs

Non-Traditional Students

• First-year orientation and education on social responsibility
• Providing many various opportunties for involvement on campus
• Creating spaces for people of different identities to feel represented and socialize
• Providing free mental health services and health and wellness promotion

• On-campus events
• Involvement and leadership opportunities
• On-campus job opportunities
• Access to health clinic and mental health services
• Welcoming spaces for all idenities
• Transitional orientation and coursework

• Living and eating on-campus
• Most likely ages 18-22 for Bachelor's programs
• Involved on campus
• Support from parents
• Social network created with other on-campus students
• In a transition period from high school

Characteristics

How to Address Needs

Needs

On-Ground Students

• Provide mental health and physical wellbeing services (Farnsworth, 2018)
• Create inclusive learning and social enrivonments (Farnsworth, 2018)
• Provide extensive orientation/transitional program
• Provide opportunities and spaces to practice new language
• Assign international coaches to guide through living in a new culture

• Community of international students
• Mental health support
• ESL or second language remedial coursework
• More direct resources for health-care and networking
• On-campus job availability
• One-on-one holistic coaching

• Most likely to live on-campus
• Less parental involvement
• Bi-lingual
• Less social support
• More unaware of social, health-care, and political systems in new country
• Less likely to be using financial aid

Characteristics

How to Address Needs

Needs

International Students

• Create students affairs chat box to act as an immediate liaison to online resources
• Provide individual career counselor to engage students in proactive career steps
• Facilitate online networking events where students can interact with colleagues and professors

• Online advisors, tutors, coaches, and educational support system
• Immediate technology assistance
• Online orientation and student portal walkthrough
• Online mental health and wellness resources
• Online career services

• Might not have access to campus and campus resources
• Not involved on-campus
• More independent learners
• Switching careers
• Busy home lives
• Technology dependent (Sundt et al., 2017)

Characteristics

How to Address Needs

Needs

Online Students

• Provide assigned coaches for students to meet with weekly to act a guide and motivator
• Hire mental health counselors that are equipped for working with first-gen students and students of color
• Create leadership program to help students gain experience, connect with other first-gen students, and gain additional scholarships

• Personalized coaching with financial aid, student loans, direct and indirect costs
• Mental health counselors readily available
• Holistic assistance with staying on top of academics, wellness, and career goals
• On-campus job placements

• More likely to use financial aid
• Less intrinsic parent support
• More likely to be students of color and/or low-income students
• Less social and cultural capital
• Has outside responsibilities to families and jobs

Characteristics

How to Address Needs

Needs

First-Generation Students

• Make on-campus resources available in online formats
• Provide advisors and counselors that can meet in between class times
• Create a commuter lounge with study tables and coffee
• Facilitate commuter events

• Opportunities and spaces to study, relax, and connect with other students on campus in between class times
• Flexible and online academic and career advising hours
• Mental health and wellness resources off-campus and online
• Commuter clubs that promote involvement

• Less likely to identify with the institution (Kretovics, 2015)
• Does not live on campus
• Greater difficulty making connections outside classroom
• Lower retention and persistence rates (Kretovics, 2015)
• More likely to have off-campus jobs

Characteristics

How to Address Needs

Needs

Commuter Students

• Acknowledge and appreciate military students with their own dinner on campus
• Hire mental health counselor that can provide care specific to military needs
• Create events and spaces where military students can meet each other

• Spaces and opportunities to meet other military students on campus
• Military clubs and organizations
• Military specific academic and career advising
• Mental health counselors equipped with working with military students

• Adult students

• Financially independent
• Not likely to live on-campus
• Less likely to have financial aid and tuition issues
• Less involved on campus
• More likely to have mental health issues

Characteristics

How to Address Needs

Needs

Military Students

• High school aged (14-18)
• Taking full high school course load
• Involved in extracurriculars not associated with college
• High parent involvement
• Less equipped to handle college-level coursework

• Provide support counselors that can give individualized help to students and parents on each next step
• Facilitate webinars and info-sessions to parents on enrollment process
• Provide extensive orientation and introduction to courses

• More involved advisors that guide students through every step of the way
• Guidance on which courses to take based on future college major
• Information distributed directly to parents
• Thorough orientation process

Characteristics

How to Address Needs

Needs

Dual Enrollment Students

Thank you!

Vale, D., & Roat, A. E. (2015). Programming for the new majority: non-traditional students. Campus Activities Programming, 48(4), 32–36.

Sundt, M. A., Berry, S., & Ortiz, A. (2017). Using data to support online student communities. New Directions for Student Services, 2017(159), 83–91. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/ss.20229

Farnsworth, Brad. (2108). Enhancing the quality of the international student experience. Higher Education Today. https://www.higheredtoday.org/2018/07/02/enhancing-quality-international-student-experience/

Kretovics, M. (2015). Commuter students, online services, and online communities. New Directions for Student Services, 2015(150), 69–78. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/ss.20128

Mansoor, S., French, E., & Ali, M. (2020). Demographic diversity, processes and outcomes: an integrated multilevel framework. Management Research Review, 43(5), 521–543. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1108/MRR-10-2018-0410

References