Rise in Nontraditional College Students Seven works cited A 1995 report from the National Center for Education Statistics reveals that 76 million American adults, 40 percent of the adult population, are enrolled in adult education courses, an increase of 8% since 1991 ("Adults Thrive"). Nearly 50% of the 14.2 million college and university students in the United States are over the age of twenty-four, and the percentage is increasing (Mathews w22). Enrollment in undergraduate programs at the University of Phoenix, the University of Denver and Regis University, schools aimed at working adults, has nearly doubled in the past five years (Scanlon 3A). Between the base years 1985-86 and 1996-97, nationwide enrollment increased by 11 percent among students ages 25 to 29, by 5 percent among those ages 30 to 34, and by a whopping 65% for those aged 35 to 35. older (Hussar 4). What explains the increase in non-traditional college student enrollments1? The causes are many and range from changes in the job market and work environments to the desire for a more rewarding career and the growth of the US population. One reason for the increase in enrollment is job changes and downsizing of companies. As businesses adapt to ever-changing economic conditions, many people find themselves unemployed and seeking a college education to help them get different or better jobs. And it's not just younger and newly hired employees who are the unfortunate victims of corporate downsizing. Tonye Nelson had been an accountant for twenty years. On March 2, 1996, she arrived at work only to be told that she had been fired due to company problems... middle of paper...: w22. Online. Lexis-Nexis. November 2, 1998.Pickard, Marilyn. Personal interview. November 19, 1998.Ricco, Kim. "The university pays." Anchorage Daily News August 4, 1996: Q.1. Online. Proquest. November 19, 1998. Scanlon, Bill. "Adult Education; Colorado Colleges Cater to Adult Crowd." Rocky Mountain News S April 1998: F.3A. Oline. Lexis-Nexis. November 2, 1998.1 Students ages 14 to 24 are commonly considered traditional students, while those ages 25 and older are considered nontraditional.2 The baby boom generation, those born between 1946 and 1964, includes 76-77 million individuals, an average of 4.2 million births per year. The next generation of individuals, born between 1965 and 1978, sometimes called the baby-bust generation or Generation X, averaged only 3.4 million births per year.