Non-traditional Student Financial Aid

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Near­ly 73% of today’s col­lege stu­dents are non-tra­di­tion­al, includ­ing adults over 25, par­ents, vet­er­ans, and full-time work­ers, and they’re dri­ving col­lege enrollment.
• Non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents are ful­ly eli­gi­ble for finan­cial aid—including Pell Grants, fed­er­al loans, and work-study—by com­plet­ing the FAFSA just like tra­di­tion­al students.
• There are numer­ous schol­ar­ships and aid pro­grams specif­i­cal­ly for adult learn­ers, such as the Jean­nette Rankin Foun­da­tion and CCAMPIS for stu­dent-par­ents, yet many go unclaimed due to lack of awareness.
• Employ­er tuition assis­tance pro­grams, vet­er­an edu­ca­tion ben­e­fits, and local/state grants like Ten­nessee Recon­nect pro­vide valu­able finan­cial sup­port tai­lored to non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents’ unique needs.

These days, near­ly 73% of col­lege stu­dents don’t fit the “typ­i­cal” col­lege mold, accord­ing to the Nation­al Cen­ter for Edu­ca­tion Sta­tis­tics. Yes, you read that right. The major­i­ty of stu­dents today are what we refer to as non-tra­di­tion­al. And they’re not just show­ing up. They’re dri­ving col­lege enroll­ment in a big way.

So, who are we talk­ing about when we say “non-tra­di­tion­al students”?

Basi­cal­ly, it refers to stu­dents who are:

• Over 25
• Work­ing full-time (or jug­gling a cou­ple of part-time jobs)
• Rais­ing kids
• Vet­er­ans
• Or just peo­ple who took a dif­fer­ent path to col­lege than the “grad­u­ate-high-school-then-go-straight-to-cam­pus” route

Non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents bring life expe­ri­ence, work eth­ic, and focus to the table, but many face major hur­dles when it comes to pay­ing for school. While finan­cial aid for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents, too often, these stu­dents just don’t know where even to begin look­ing for help.

In this guide, we will be break­ing down the ins and outs of non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dent finan­cial aid. We’ll walk you through the dif­fer­ent types of finan­cial aid and where to find one just for non-tra­di­tion­al students.

Relat­ed:

• Finan­cial Aid for Adult Learn­ers Return­ing to College
• Cheap­est Online Bachelor’s Degrees
• Top Emerg­ing Online Degree Programs
• Online Bachelor’s Degree Schol­ar­ships and Finan­cial Aid

Understanding Financial Aid Eligibility for Non-Traditional Students

Your age will NOT dis­qual­i­fy you from finan­cial aid. That’s right. Whether you’re 25, 45, or 65, the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment and many state and pri­vate aid pro­grams are ready to help if you qual­i­fy based on finan­cial need and oth­er factors.

So, what’s the start­ing point? The Free Appli­ca­tion for Fed­er­al Stu­dent Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA process for tra­di­tion­al stu­dents is no dif­fer­ent than the FAFSA for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents. You’d still need to gath­er the same kind of paperwork:

• Social Secu­ri­ty number
• Fed­er­al income tax returns, W‑2s, and oth­er records of mon­ey earned
• Bank state­ments and records of savings/checking account balances
• Records of investments
• Records of untaxed income
• Your spouse’s finan­cial infor­ma­tion, if you’re married

Com­plet­ing the appli­ca­tion opens the door to new and return­ing stu­dent finan­cial aid, such as:

• Fed­er­al grants (free money!)
• Fed­er­al stu­dent loans (low-inter­est borrowing)
• Work-study oppor­tu­ni­ties (on-cam­pus or vir­tu­al jobs)
• Some state and school-based aid

Federal and State Financial Aid Programs

Federal Aid Options

This is among the most com­mon finan­cial aid for non-tra­di­tion­al students.

• Pell Grants – If you have finan­cial need, Pell Grants are basi­cal­ly free mon­ey. You don’t pay them back. As of now, you could get up to around $7,000 a year. Yes, even if you’re old­er, part-time, or already working.
• Sub­si­dized vs. Unsub­si­dized Loans – These are low-inter­est loans from the gov­ern­ment. “Sub­si­dized” means the gov­ern­ment helps cov­er inter­est while you’re in school. “Unsub­si­dized” means inter­est starts pil­ing up right away. You can bor­row respon­si­bly and repay after graduation.
• Fed­er­al Work-Study – A great option if you want a part-time job relat­ed to your field or just need some income while study­ing. Bonus: It does­n’t impact your tax­es the same way reg­u­lar jobs do.
• PLUS Loans – These are finan­cial help for adult learn­ers, includ­ing grad­u­ate stu­dents or par­ents pay­ing for their child’s col­lege. Less com­mon for adult learn­ers, but worth know­ing about.

State-Based Aid

Most states have grant or schol­ar­ship pro­grams just for res­i­dents, and many have added special col­lege grants for non-tra­di­tion­al students.

A few examples:

• Ten­nessee Recon­nect – Free tuition for eli­gi­ble adults going back to com­mu­ni­ty college.
• HOPE Career Grant in Geor­gia – Cov­ers tuition for stu­dents study­ing high-demand careers.
• Cal­i­for­nia Col­lege Promise Grant – Waives enroll­ment fees for low-income residents.

Check your state’s edu­ca­tion web­site or your school’s finan­cial aid office. You’d be sur­prised how many grants for part-time stu­dents are fly­ing under the radar.

Scholarships for Non-Traditional Students

Where to Find Scholarships

Over $100 mil­lion in schol­ar­ships and $2 bil­lion in grants go unclaimed every year, accord­ing to SoFi. Why? Because many peo­ple wrong­ly believe schol­ar­ships are only for top stu­dents or star athletes.

But the truth is, there are tons of schol­ar­ships for all kinds of peo­ple. You can start look­ing for schol­ar­ships for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents by brows­ing large schol­ar­ship databases:

• Fast­Web
• Bold.org
• Scholarships.com
• Going Mer­ry
• Appi­ly
• Mos
• Schol­ly
• Fair Oppor­tu­ni­ty Project

Also, don’t for­get to check:

• Your col­lege’s finan­cial aid website
• Local non­prof­it organizations
• Your employ­er or union

Top Scholarships to Highlight

• The Jean­nette Rankin Foun­da­tion Schol­ar­ship is for low-income women aged 35+ pur­su­ing a degree.
• The Pat­sy Take­mo­to Mink Foun­da­tion helps low-income women with chil­dren pay for college.
• The Osh­er Reen­try Schol­ar­ship is designed for adults return­ing to school after a break of five or more years.
• The Imag­ine Amer­i­ca Adult Skills Pro­gram is aimed at adult stu­dents enter­ing voca­tion­al or career colleges.
• The Courage to Grow Schol­ar­ship is open to adult learn­ers with a 2.5 GPA or high­er. Month­ly winners!

These are just a few exam­ples. There are hun­dreds more edu­ca­tion fund­ing options for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents, just wait­ing for you to apply.

Employer Tuition Assistance and Workforce Development Programs

Sur­pris­ing­ly, many adult stu­dents are unaware of these finan­cial aid options for work­ing adults. More and more com­pa­nies are offer­ing tuition assis­tance and reim­burse­ment. Exam­ples include Star­bucks’ debt-free edu­ca­tion pro­gram, Ama­zon’s Career Choice, and Boe­ing’s Learn­ing Together.

Even if you don’t work for one of the big names, many small­er busi­ness­es offer some form of tuition reim­burse­ment or schol­ar­ships. You just need to ask your HR department.

And don’t for­get about gov­ern­ment workforce/financial help for adult learn­ers pro­grams like the WIOA (Work­force Inno­va­tion and Oppor­tu­ni­ty Act). This aid is focused on help­ing dis­lo­cat­ed work­ers, low-income adults, and more with job train­ing and edu­ca­tion funding.

Financial Aid for Special Non-Traditional Groups

Some non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents have extra resources avail­able. Let’s walk through a few spe­cial­ized non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dent finan­cial aid options:

Veterans and Military Students

There are sev­er­al stu­dent aid pro­grams specif­i­cal­ly designed for vet­er­ans and mil­i­tary stu­dents. These include:

• Post‑9/11 GI Bill offers edu­ca­tion ben­e­fits to those who served at least 90 days on active duty or in the Select­ed Reserve after Sep­tem­ber 11, 2001. It has sev­er­al parts, including:
  • Up to 100% tuition and fee coverage
  • Month­ly hous­ing allowance
  • Up to $1,000 a year for books and supplies
• Yel­low Rib­bon Pro­gram offers the same ben­e­fits as the Post‑9/11 GI Bill but is exclu­sive to stu­dents attend­ing pri­vate, more expen­sive schools.
• Tuition Assis­tance is offered to active-duty ser­vice mem­bers through their branch of service.

Plus, many cam­pus­es have vet­er­an sup­port cen­ters, schol­ar­ships, and advi­sors ded­i­cat­ed just to you.

Parents and Single Parents

There are also col­lege grants for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents with children.

• CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Par­ents in School) is a fed­er­al pro­gram that helps pay for child­care so you can attend school.
• Local par­ent­ing groups and non­prof­its often offer fund­ing or flex­i­ble school­ing options.

First-Generation and Undocumented Students

If you’re the first in your fam­i­ly to go to col­lege, you may qual­i­fy for first-gen schol­ar­ships at your school or through out­side foundations.

If you’re undoc­u­ment­ed, you still have options. Look into:

• The Dream.US Scholarship
• State-spe­cif­ic aid in places like Cal­i­for­nia and Texas for undoc­u­ment­ed students
• Pri­vate schools that don’t require cit­i­zen­ship for aid

Tips for Maximizing Aid as a Non-Traditional Student

Non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents deal with finan­cial stress just like any oth­er stu­dent, some­times even more because of all the extra stuff on their plates. Jug­gling work, fam­i­ly, and school can real­ly ramp up the pressure.

But there are smart ways to make the most of edu­ca­tion fund­ing for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents and ease that burden.

1. Always fill out the FAFSA every year. Even if you did­n’t get much last year, your sit­u­a­tion might have changed.
2. Don’t assume you have to be full-time. Many pro­grams offer part-time aid.
3. Get per­son­al with schol­ar­ship essays. Your life expe­ri­ence is valu­able. Tell your story.
4. Talk to a finan­cial aid advi­sor. They’re lit­er­al­ly there to help you. Use them.
5. Tap into local resources. Com­mu­ni­ty orga­ni­za­tions, non­prof­its, and even your employ­er offer finan­cial aid for first-time stu­dents as well as return­ing stu­dent finan­cial aid. Some­times these are less com­pet­i­tive than nation­al schol­ar­ships, so def­i­nite­ly look local.

Conclusion

Don’t let your age stop you from going after the degree you want. And most impor­tant­ly, don’t think you’re not eli­gi­ble for finan­cial aid just because you’re older—you prob­a­bly still qual­i­fy. In fact, non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents are more like­ly to get Pell Grants than tra­di­tion­al students!

Aside from the Pell Grants, there is more finan­cial aid for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents, from fed­er­al pro­grams to pri­vate schol­ar­ships and employ­er sup­port. You just have to know where to look and how to ask for guidance.

When search­ing for finan­cial aid for non-tra­di­tion­al stu­dents, always remem­ber to ask ques­tions, speak up, and explore every resource avail­able to you. Your school’s finan­cial aid office, your HR depart­ment at work, and com­mu­ni­ty organizations—they’re all great start­ing points. Don’t be shy about ask­ing, “What kind of help is out there for some­one like me?”

Also, don’t under­es­ti­mate the pow­er of your sto­ry. Use that in your schol­ar­ship appli­ca­tions and con­ver­sa­tions with advi­sors. Real-life expe­ri­ence is a strength, not a weakness.