CSULB students getting older

By Jimmy Chai, On-Line Forty-Niner

Tuesday, September 1, 1998

Last fall, approximately 33 percent of Cal State Long Beach's student population was over 25, according to a survey conducted by the California Postsecondary Education Commission.

The population age is rising and the numbers are steadily increasing, said Bruce Vancil, adult re-entry coordinator.

Calculations for spring 1997 and this fall will be available in spring of 1998.

"In the past, the average age of the person I was seeing was 33," Vancil said, who also advises adult re-entry students. "Now, as of my report a month ago, the average age was 37."

In a survey conducted by the CPEC on the CSULB campus for the fall 1997 semester, 7,177 students out of 22,122 were adult learners, students 25 years and up. Records show adults are making an impact in college.

There are a variety of reasons adults come back to college, Vancil said.

"I had a lot of units from several different programs, but I never put it together for a degree, said William Morris, an adult re-entry student in his last semester. "I think the way the 20th century has evolved, you need an advanced degree. It's just a given."

Vancil said people get laid off from work only to realize the opportunity to change careers, while others over 25 often return because their skills have become dated.

Re-entry is not always easy, he said, because many adults have specific needs, full-time schedules and family limitations.

To handle the needs of adult students, CSULB provides evening courses to accommodate them.

"Adults now are also looking at long distance learning," Vancil said. "It gives them the opportunity to get on their personal computers and do classroom instructions at home."