Graduate Program

College Student Affairs

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

2010

Thesis Director

Charles Eberly

Thesis Committee Member

Will Hine

Thesis Committee Member

Kiran Padmaraju

Abstract

Nontraditional undergraduate students are one of the fastest growing segments of .the student population on college campuses today. The purpose of this study was to discover if a sample of nontraditional undergraduate students perceived that Eastern Illinois University, a traditional, residential university, was meeting their foundational support needs.

A selected set of nontraditional undergraduate students completed an online survey about their perceptions of financial needs, medical and mental health needs, and use of general student support services on campus. Three open-ended response items asked respondents what Eastern Illinois University could do to improve program delivery, enhance services to adult students, and reflect on their personal educational experiences at Eastern Illinois University.

The findings of the current survey showed that Eastern Illinois University needs to actively track nontraditional undergraduate students and ensure support services are available to these students at times that are convenient to them. Eastern Illinois University needs to upgrade traditional residential university methods of providing services and become more customer service oriented toward the growing number of nontraditional undergraduate students.

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