Heike Perko is 38 years old, married, a mother to two children and a full-time student at Ohio University.
If I look at the big picture
it is overwhelming. I have to take it task by task day by day Perko said.
Perko changed her career goals and came to OU from her job as naturalist and researcher in Alaska to pursue a master's degree in science education, which requires her to take many undergraduate courses in addition to her graduate work. She and other non-traditional students in undergraduate classes bring a different perspective to OU.
I'm very goal-orientated. I don't have time to waste. I'm paying for the class
I am going to get the most out of it
Perko said, adding that other students have complained that she asks too many questions.
At OU, there are currently 565 non-traditional students, or undergraduates that are above the age of 25. These students make up about 3 percent of the undergraduate student body.
More than 50 percent of all college students are over the age of 24, and more non-traditional students are going back to school during the economic recession, said Kaye Woodward, director of the College of Continuing Education at Eastern Illinois University.
Many adults can't be promoted because they don't have the degree requirements
but they train their new superiors or bosses
she said.
Some non-traditional students are coming back to school because their company is laying-off and job security is low. During this time, many may decide to change careers entirely, Woodward said.
Mike Craddock, a 51-year-old undergraduate, came to OU to study actuarial science after earning his associate's degree in human services in 2003 from Hocking College.
Craddock spent most of his life cooking before he attended Hocking College and he currently works at Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling Services, a job that gives him enough time to take two classes per quarter.
In 2004, Craddock, like Perko, decided to switch careers. Now he is studying statistical analysis as part of the actuary science program, because he said he likes working with numbers. He plans to graduate in 2010 and work for an insurance company.
Craddock said as a nontraditional student, he thinks that he appreciates learning more than younger undergraduates.
I generally think people should take a year or two off before college to appreciate learning more. Appreciation for learning comes with age and experience
he said.
- Ashley Luthern contributed to this report.
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