A Multivariate Analysis (MANOVA) of Where Adult Learners Are In Higher Education

Gail Dianna Caruth

Abstract


Amercian institutions of higher education were originally established with the purpose of educating the advantaged youth. However, over time colleges and universities began to educate more adult students, those 25 years of age and older. Due to this increase in adults reentering the academy, it is appropriate and timely to ask where these students are attending school, what is known about their distribution in the higher education system, and whether they are asembled in one type of institution or evenly distributed among institutions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine where undergraduate adult students are located within the 4-year private, public, and for-profit universities offering undergraduate degrees in the United States. This study utilized descriptive and multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) statistical analyses. Descriptive analysis proveded the number, means, and standard deviations for college and university enrollments obtained from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to answer two research questions. Two MANOVAs and comparative designs were employed to examine electronic data accessed through IPEDS. Undergraduate students under the age of 25 are enrolling in 4-year public and private universities in the United States at about double the enrollment rate as that of for-profit universities.

Keywords


Adult Learner, Adult Education, Nontraditional Students

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References


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