Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Non-traditional students (working adults, caregivers, etc.) face unique challenges like balancing responsibilities, financial strain, and social isolation.
- Traditional support services often fail to meet their needs due to rigid structures and limited hours.
- Virtual success coaching offers a flexible and accessible solution with anytime-anywhere support.
- TimelyCare’s virtual success coaching provides personalized, holistic support with 24/7 availability.
Higher education and its students are constantly changing. Yet, many non-traditional students—working adults, caregivers, veterans, or individuals returning to school after several years—face significant challenges. As a first-generation college student who has worked full-time while attending school to support myself and my family, I understand these struggles first hand. Balancing coursework with jobs, family responsibilities, or financial hardships often leaves these students feeling overwhelmed and underserved by campus services, which are often designed with younger, full-time students in mind.
What if there were ways to make higher education truly accessible and empowering for everyone, regardless of their circumstances?
What challenges do non-traditional students face?
Consider the unique challenges that can make pursuing higher education a more complex and demanding journey for non-traditional students.
Balancing coursework and competing priorities
Limited access to support services
Services like academic advising, financial aid assistance, tutoring, and mental health counseling are commonly offered during fixed campus hours. For students who cannot commute to campus or conform to these rigid hours due to external and familial demands, these critical and needed services can feel out of reach. Even in cases where students can access these resources, navigating a complex system of bureaucracy or locating the right department often results in additional frustration.
Financial strain
Social isolation and imposter syndrome
Returning to school or entering college as an older or working adult can make non-traditional students feel out of place. Surrounded by younger peers who often attend classes full-time, some struggle with feelings of isolation or “not belonging,” which negatively impacts confidence and motivation.
How do virtual resources provide the support non-traditional students need?
Colleges and universities recognize the needs of non-traditional students, but existing services are typically not built with these students in mind.
Most campus models are structured around a “one-size-fits-all” approach, assuming students are available to engage during business hours and have time to commute to campus. But this expectation doesn’t align with the reality of non-traditional learners today.
For non-traditional students, flexibility isn’t just convenient—it’s critical. Colleges that fail to adapt put an already vulnerable group at greater risk of dropping out due to unmet needs. Here are four ways that virtual support services help meet the needs of non-traditional students.
Available anytime, anywhere
No need for transportation or childcare
Personalized, whole student support
Building community, virtually
What does TimelyCare’s success coaching resource offer?
TimelyCare offers industry-leading virtual success coaching services designed to break down barriers and empower non-traditional students. What makes it effective is that we understand the students’ needs and can help them when and where they need it. Here are the advantages that TimelyCare’s Success Coaching offers to colleges and universities:
- Expert network: Our coaches are trained specialists who understand the complexities of balancing adult responsibilities with rigorous coursework.
- Holistic approach: We address academic concerns while also helping students overcome personal and financial obstacles.
- 24/7 resources: Whether it’s 9 a.m. or 9 p.m., our platform ensures that support is always a click away.
Our mission is simple—remove the barriers standing between non-traditional students and their success, one step at a time.
Learn more about TimelyCare’s virtual success coaching and take the next step toward success for your entire campus community today.
The Struggle is Real
By Gina Katzmark, Strategic Communications Director, TimelyCare
I celebrated my 40th birthday not with a party but by taking a managerial accounting final. It’s not exactly what I envisioned at 20 years old. Back then, I was laser-focused on becoming a broadcast journalist, counting down the days until I could graduate with my journalism degree and launch my full-time career at my hometown TV station. That dream took me on an impressive journey in television news, moving to new states, making lifelong friends, and ultimately achieving my goal of becoming a news director by the age of 30. It was a career I loved—until one day, I didn’t.
Deciding to change careers in midlife wasn’t impulsive. It was a measured and ambitious choice. I knew that if I wanted to start fresh, I would need to return to school and earn a Master of Business Administration degree. That degree couldn’t come from just anywhere—I needed a strong program with a respected name, a robust alumni network, and a curriculum that would challenge me. But here’s the truth I couldn’t ignore: it wouldn’t be cheap, and it wouldn’t be easy.
First, there was an obstacle I hadn’t tackled in a long time—math. I hadn’t taken a math class since high school and had managed to avoid it during undergrad by passing a college algebra competency test. Instead of calculus or statistics, I opted for logic and computer science courses, anything to steer clear of “real math.” I’d always been a high achiever and wasn’t about to risk ruining my track record with a dreaded C.
Preparing for the GMAT meant confronting my weakest academic link. I hired a private tutor and told him I had never taken a statistics class. My math since college consisted of timing TV news segments and managing budgets with spreadsheets lovingly crafted by colleagues far more fluent in numbers. It was humbling, but with hours of study and my tutor’s guidance, I managed to score high enough on the GMAT. Not stellar, but high enough—and, importantly, I only had to take it once. That small victory gave me a shot of much-needed confidence.
The confidence boost was short-lived. My first semester in the MBA program was a whirlwind. By day, I worked full-time. I took courses like Quantitative Analysis, Financial Management, and Economics at night. My saving grace was our team-based learning structure. My teammates had backgrounds in finance, IT, marketing, and accounting. I took on the role of writer and presentation expert. Together, we made an incredible team, each bringing our unique strengths to the table. But when it came time to take Quantitative Analysis exams alone, there was no team to lean on.
Five months in, I found myself on academic probation. For the first time in my life, hard work and determination weren’t enough to carry me through. Anything below a B in the program was considered failing, and I was barely hanging on. I felt like a fish out of water and was too afraid to ask for help. Vulnerability wasn’t something I was comfortable showing, and I couldn’t spare an hour to visit a tutoring center during the workday. I didn’t know where to turn, so I struggled alone.
Looking back, I wish I’d had access to a flexible resource like virtual success coaching. It’s exactly what I needed at that moment—a lifeline to meet me where I was. The convenience and discretion of online support would have allowed me to ask for help without fear or judgment. Instead, I pushed through by sheer force of will, eventually earning my MBA alongside my classmates. I even received an award for an outstanding strategic marketing plan. But it didn’t have to be that hard.
Now years later, I want to say what I couldn’t admit back then, “It’s OK to ask for help.” You don’t have to suffer in silence, and you don’t have to figure it all out alone. Whether it’s virtual success coaching, mental health support, or tools to manage stress, there are resources designed to catch you before you fall. Life will throw challenges your way, often when you least expect them. But no matter how overwhelming they seem, help is closer than you think.
