Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Adult Learners

Often, adult learners delay enrollment in postsecondary education because their lives have taken them down a different path, including raising a family, entering the military, and/or working full-time. Regardless of the motivation for returning to school, adult students face some challenges that traditional students might not encounter. In this publication, based on their 2011 Webinar broadcast, NACADA Advising Adult Learners Commission Chair Jennifer Varney and Past-Chair Lisa Peck explore some of the challenges that adult learners tend to share and discuss ways advisors can help this population succeed.