Adult Learners in Higher Education: A Rural–Urban Analysis of Pennsylvania FAFSA Applicants’ Educational, Demographic, and Financial Characteristics

Abstract

This article paints a comprehensive portrait of the demographic, financial, and educational characteristics of Pennsylvania postsecondary students who are adult learners, and identifies rural-urban differences within this group. The study analyzed data from the 2010-11 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (n  = 610,925), supplemented by interviews with two policy experts and six financial aid administrators at rural postsecondary institutions. Adult learners differed from younger students on all measures and experienced more disadvantage. Economic hardship was pronounced: Adult learners’ mean annual family income was less than half that of traditional-age students, and 60% lived in poverty or near-poverty. Salient rural-urban differences included institutional type, parental education, marital status, dependent children, and income. Together, quantitative and qualitative data revealed that adult learners have distinct economic situations (employment status, income), family obligations, and enrollment patterns (e.g., part-time study, short-duration degree programs). Thus, they need different forms of support and financial aid.

Keywords:

• adult learners
• college students
• FAFSA
• financial aid
• financial need
• higher education
• rural

Notes

¹ PHEAA is a student aid organization established in 1963 by the -Pennsylvania General Assembly. “Today, PHEAA is a national provider of student financial aid services, serving millions of students and thousands of schools through its loan guaranty, loan servicing, financial aid -processing, outreach, and other student aid programs. PHEAA's earnings are used to support its public service mission and to pay its operating costs, including administration of the Pennsylvania State Grant and other state-funded student aid programs” (PHEAA, 2014a, para. 1–2).

² Only applicants under age 24 may claim dislocated worker status for a parent. Applicants who are over age 24 or meet other FAFSA criteria for independence (e.g., married, veteran or active duty, having children who receive more than one-half of their support from the applicant) may claim dislocated worker status for themselves or their spouse.

³ In Pennsylvania, state grant eligibility is enshrined in state regulations; thus, any changes in eligibility criteria require legislative approval. When the U.S. Department of Education eliminated the face-to-face instruction requirement for federal aid in 2006, other states followed suit—without having to seek state legislative approval. Second, PHEAA cannot incur a deficit, so without accurate estimates of the number of distance learners, PHEAA could not calculate the cost of awarding them state grants.

Additional information

Funding

This project was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative agency of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. In-kind support for this study was provided by the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy and the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy at Penn State.