Getting to Know Our Students

Students are the reason we are all here, so it makes sense to spend a little time getting to know the "typical" college student today. 

Importantly, non-traditional students are now the majority of students in higher education classrooms. Non-traditional students have one or more of the following characteristics: "at least 25 years old, attend school part‐time, work full‐time, be a veteran, have children, wait at least one year after high school before entering college, have a GED instead of a high school diploma, being a first‐generation student (FGS), are enrolled in nondegree programs, or have reentered a college program. (Source: A Review of the Literature: The Needs of Nontraditional Students in Postsecondary Education Links to an external site.). 

You can find a profile of the demographics of new OSU students here.  Twenty-five percent of OSU's students are student of color. Thirty percent of OSU's undergraduate transfer students are over the age of 25. Approximately twenty percent of new OSU first-year students are first generation college students. As you might expect, these students can have special needs Links to an external site. that may not always be accounted for in a traditional higher education classroom. For example, first generation college students may struggle with a feeling that they are abandoning their families Links to an external site., or rejecting their past. Older students may be highly motivated and self-directed Links to an external site., but may be juggling childcare and working multiple jobs while attending school. Students of color may face isolation, loneliness, or even racism and Islamophobia Links to an external site.. 

Even those students who look more like a traditional college student (i.e., younger, leaving home for the first time), may be different from college students in the past. Research suggests that iGen (aka GenZ) is less independent and less likely to drive, work, and have sex Links to an external site. than previous generations. GenZ is likely to have a shorter attention span Links to an external site. (long lectures won't be very effective with this group!) but they are also more likely to want to be actively engaged Links to an external site. in their education (no passive memorizing and listening here!). 

As you work with our students, we don't expect you to know everything about college demographics and the changing approaches of higher education. However, we do hope that this information will encourage you to start your conversations with students with an open mind. Consider that the person in front of you may be juggling demands that "traditional" college students do not. Instead of using the teaching techniques that worked for you, or that may have worked in the past, consider how you may need to adjust your style to meet the needs of today's students.