Number of non-traditional USD students remains steady

The number of non-traditional students enrolled in USD courses is steady, according to the Admissions Office.

Generally, the only time any variation occurs is when there’s a recession, when more non-traditional students come to USD hoping to get a degree in a more lucrative career, said Travis Vlasman, senior associate director of USD Admissions.

USD defines a non-traditional student as someone who is 24 years or older, but long-distance students also fit in that category, Vlasman said.

Vlasman works with non-traditional students who are returning to school, known in Admissions as adult learners.

His work mostly involves individual meetings and walk-in tours with this category of students, he said.

“The group that I’ll address are the students that want to come to the main campus,” Vlasman said. “We also have the Division for Distance Education which deals with online and the university center. The Division for Distance does a lot of advertising through their website and radio. From a main campus standpoint, we don’t do a lot of advertising, but word-of-mouth.”

Though first-year Bryanna Chipley isn’t an adult learner, she is considered a non-traditional student, as she opted to take her first-year classes online rather than coming to USD’s Vermillion campus.

“I was having trouble getting used to the idea of moving away from home,” she said. “There were several reasons, but my mom battling cancer was the big one, so I decided it was better to stay in Mitchell for at least another year to keep up with everything that was going on. She’s in remission now though, so everything is good.”

Chipley said there advantages and disadvantages to not attending classes on campus.

“Academically, I would honestly say it’s easier, at least for me. Socially though, it’s definitely harder,” she said. “It’s also kind of sad seeing all the cool things people are doing on campus while I’m just sitting on my couch watching The Office for the fifth time and trying to get my dog to stop chewing up all my writing utensils.”

But online classes have benefitted her overall schedule, Chipley added.

“It’s easier to get the right amount of sleep when I can choose when I have class on a day-to-day basis,” she said. “I can work pretty much entirely at my own pace, which takes a lot of the stress out of things.”

USD tries to make adult learners and online students feel welcome and a part of the school, Vlasman said.

“We make sure they know what is all available for them to do,” he said. “We try and offer them all of the same things that we offer to (traditional) students. We want them to be aware that they can be what they want to be in.”

Despite being off-campus, Chipley said she still tries to stay involved with news on campus, though it’s not a priority.

“To be honest, that hasn’t been something that’s super important to me,” she said.

Chipley, a dental hygiene major, said she’ll be attending classes in Vermillion next year.

“With the major I’ve chosen, I’ll have to come to campus next year,” she said. “Which I’m actually kind of grateful for, I need to get out of my house.”

John Guagliardo, a history major and political science minor, is 27 years old. It’s his fifth semester at USD.

“I graduated from high school and studied abroad for a year, and then I just went to work as soon as I came back,” he said. “I worked from 18 until 25.”

The native Californian came to Vermillion for multiple reasons.

“My out-of-state tuition here is cheaper than my in-state tuition in California,” Guagliardo said. “The cost of living is significantly cheaper. I got a fresh start, got to go someplace new, check out a different part of the country. I had a few friends who were out here and they told me to come on out. It’s a decent school and it’s a good place to get my undergraduate.”

Vlasman said he sees a lot of motivation in the adult learners that study at USD.

“The adult learners are really motivated and have an exact goal in mind that’s usually different from someone who is just out of high school,” he said. “A lot of them are balancing a lot of different things, so that can be a real motivator when it comes to the amount of courses that they want to take and what it takes to get their degree.”