Frequently Asked Questions

How is the non-traditional student defined?
What is credit for prior learning?
What is the status of enrollments in online higher education?
What is blended education?
What are the educational requirements of the high-growth jobs?
How many people in the U.S. workforce (ages 25-64 years) have a bachelor's degree or higher?
How are tax-free employer-provided educational benefits obtained and who is eligible?

How is the non-traditional student defined?

Eighty-nine percent of undergraduates at both public 2-year and private for-profit colleges are non-traditional students. Non-traditional students comprise 57 percent of undergraduates at 4-year public colleges and 50 percent of undergraduates at private nonprofit colleges. The U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) defines non-traditional students as having one or more of the following characteristics: delaying enrollment into postsecondary education, attending part time, being financially independent from parents, having dependents, working full time while enrolled, being a single parent, or having a GED or high school equivalent certificate.

What is credit for prior learning?

Adult learners often have prior learning experiences from work, community, and volunteer activities. Many continuing higher education degree programs give college credit for such experiences. Some programs require students to prepare a written portfolio that describes and documents their college-level learning. The portfolio is evaluated by faculty members, who make credit recommendations based on the college-level learning from the student's experiences. Some CE organizations allow students to earn credit by taking the equivalent of the final exam for a course.

What is the status of enrollments in online higher education?

Nearly 3.2 million higher education students took an online course in 2005, a 37 percent increase over the previous year, according to the Sloan Consortium's Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006.

Among U.S. college and university continuing education organizations, 88 percent of those in public institutions and 68 percent, in private institutions, offered online courses in 2006. The most popular online programs in terms of enrollment were: business/management, general/liberal studies, education, allied health/health services, and information systems/information technology.

What is blended education?

Blended education - also called hybrid education - refers to education which combines face-to-face and online instruction.

What are the educational requirements of the high-growth jobs?

Professional occupations are expected to add some six million jobs between 2004 and 2014, with 75 percent of those in three fields: allied health, education, and computer and mathematical science. Of the nearly 19 million new jobs projected from 2004-2014, nearly 7 million, or 36 percent, will require a bachelor's degree or higher; only 24 percent of jobs in 2004 required a bachelor's degree. An additional 5.3 million new jobs projected from 2004-2014 will require at least some college education. All told, 11 million new jobs from 2004-2014 will require at least some college education, representing 63 percent of all new jobs in that time period.

How many people in the U.S. workforce (ages 25-64 years) have a bachelor's degree or higher?

In 2006, 33 percent of the workforce had at least a bachelor's degree. However, this number will likely decrease as the baby boom generation enters its retirement years and is replaced by a more diverse workforce, with a projected lower level of educational attainment, absent any interventions. By 2025, nearly a quarter of Americans will be age 60 or older, up from 17 percent in 2005.

How are tax-free employer-provided educational benefits obtained and who is eligible?

Section 127 of the IRS code allows workers to receive up to $5,250 from their employer to help pay for education costs without having to claim this assistance as income. In addition, workers can deduct qualified work-related educational expenses that were not reimbursed by the employer, provided the worker meets one of three criteria covered under section 162 of the IRS code. See IRS Publication 970 "Tax Benefits for Education" for complete details.